Trials of War: A Sonic Forces Rewrite
by Ways
Summary: Sonic's been defeated... The world has fallen... The Eggman Empire is on the rise and a powerful new enemy has appeared. In the clash between forces of good and forces of evil, what could possibly reignite the light of hope? Heroes will be born, some will return and the sands of time will bring another as the resistance stands against the empire. (T to be safe)
1. Prologue: A Fallen World

**Y'know that feeling when you really don't have the time to write a fic but your hand slips and out pops the first chapter? That's sorta what happened to me with this.**

 **I don't have much time, but I'm really interested in this story considering how many ideas I have for it, so I'm gonna try and see it through to the end.**

 **Welcome to Sonic Forces, this is a story basically taking the story of the original game, but expanding it to my heart's greatest desires. Buckle up everyone, because we're going to be in for a wild ride.**

 **All you should know is that while some things are going to be kept the same in this story, others will be changed depending on what works for this story I have planned out. So… yeah. Without further ado, let's begin with this chapter that is more or less taken directly from the game. Hehe, sorry guys, gotta start somewhere.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog, because if I did? Well… Forces would've been what this story is and not what it turned out to be.**

 **Sonic Forces**

 **Prologue:  
A Fallen World **

Doctor Eggman: the world's greatest scientific genius with an IQ of 300 and resident evil mastermind had tried time and time again since to take over the world and defeat its savior, Sonic the Hedgehog. They had been fighting each other for years now, but as the hedgehog got older and older and the world began to change more and more, the doctor began to get bigger and bigger failures.  
 _What was it?_ He wondered. He had hundreds upon thousands of robots at his disposal, he had foolproof plans capable of besting master tacticians, he had everything in his power to take the world by storm. But always fell short thanks to one hedgehog. It always made him scratch his head.

But that was in the past.

This time things would be different.

After his defeat on the Lost Hex, he had gone into hiding. He remembered that he'd said that he'd find a new conch and use that to conquer the Zeti again. But he quickly grew tired of the idea, especially after what he had found.

This new discovery, it held immense power and after countless hours of experimentation, tests gone wrong and accidentally alerting an emerald guardian, he was proud of what he had accomplished today.

And if it was with that pride that he strolled down the halls of the secret base in Green Hill Zone. Darkness surrounded the mad doctor before he reached his destination and the electronic door slid open, bathing him in the baby blue light of the laboratory.

The laboratory was made up of rows upon rows of stasis tubes containing a mishmash of red cubes in varying degrees of decay that floated aimlessly about in the clear liquid; in the middle of the room was the main console and its screen which displayed his newest creation.

"Sonic… how I hate him." Eggman started.

The only two that were there to hear him were his two robot assistants Cubot and Orbot. The former was scrubbing away at one of the many tubes while the latter typed away at the console, both of them listened to intently to their master.

"And all of that loathing has been focused into this invincible instrument of destruction!"

He pointed at the chamber that Cubot dutifully wiped away at as he hummed a happy tune. He now began to walk towards it.

"Every defeat, every humiliation at that hedgehog's hands will be returned a thousand fold by invincible creation!"

He pushed Cubot away to which the robot let out a cry, as Eggman looked on at it with a prideful grin.

"This is my dream come true… With this invention, I can expand the Eggman Empire across the globe and conquer the world!"

With that he began to out an evil laugh.

"The boss means business this time." Orbot added from where he stood to which Cubot nodded in agreement.

The doctor began to laugh and laugh as soon his newest plan would be allowed to come to fruition.

But as the cackles continued, his creation looked at his master and clenched its fists.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Sonic couldn't help but grin as he made a mad dash through what couldn't be better described as home. Or well… as close to one as he really had anyway. Being always on the move meant that he didn't stay in one place for too long. But still, amongst maybe a handful of other places, this was probably the place he came back to most often.

There was something that he always loved about his feet pounding on the checkerboard rock… Something about the lush green grass tickling his feet as he breezed on through… Something about exploring the expansive caves underground. There was just something about Green Hill Zone that made him feel so alive.

He chalked it up to nostalgia. But even he knew there was a little more to it than that.

Right now he just needed a break, and that's how he found himself running through his home again.

Eggman had been active these days, but also quiet about it. Places around the world began changing in ways that the hedgehog didn't quite understand. But he knew that it had something to do with Eggman.

And then Knuckles randomly came off of his island and wanted everyone to join him in the fight against Eggman. Sonic would've poked fun at him for being so serious about Eggman being up to his usual tricks. But the fact that Silver of all people had been there with him definitely meant something was up.

So, Sonic and the others joined what Knuckles was calling the resistance and their _fearless leader_ was starting to drive him a little crazy which is why he had broken out of their little base for a bit for a breather.

And that's how he found himself dashing across some of the hills that were still green.

He wasn't even sure how, but Eggman managed to get rid of all the water in the zone. All of it. Sure, some of the plants was able to stay green despite everything. But the rest? A deserted wasteland complete with sand and white, dying grass that saddened the blue blur to no end. Pyramids rose high up into the sky even above the tallest checkered hills and it was just weird. Whatever Eggman had done, it clearly left the place in ruin.

Still, Sonic ran and kicked up grass in his wake. Alone to his thoughts as he zoomed past tikis, over hills and tip-tapping along checkered stretches of land. Even if he was left alone to his thoughts of Eggman and whatever his latest scheme was, he at least managed to get away from Knuckles and his constant badgering.

Of course, his little reprieve wouldn't last long. When he made his way over a large hill and under an archway of rock, his communicator sprang to life.

"Sonic! Eggman's forces are surging into the city. We need you here now!" Tails called.

He was a little surprised to hear his little brother's voice. He had expected Knuckles to reprimand him for hopping off the grid again.

Still, without missing a beat, he answered. "Don't worry, Tails. I'll be there soon!"

And so he was off like a shot, zooming across a long stretch of land high above the sands.

He hated to leave Green Hill so soon, but if people were in trouble, there was no question.

He continued along, using a spring to propel himself onto another stretch of land before boosting ahead. He knew that if he wanted to get to the city there was no time to waste.

He ran into some of Eggman's robots stationed throughout the zone, but that wasn't much of a problem for him, ramming through them and continuing along the path.

It was only when he was propelled into the air with another group of springs that he saw the Sandworm drilling into and out of the sand in the distance.

It stretched over hundreds upon hundreds of feet, sending mountains of sand into the sky. Just the sheer size of it was baffling to Sonic, but he didn't let it get to him as he continued along through the green hills until he went down a tube that lead him to the vast desert below.

He kicked up sand, hopped over fallen totems and rammed into whatever Eggman robots came in his way.

After a quick trot over the bridge, he knew he was almost there. Just a little bit more and he'd be in the city.

 _Almost there, buddy. Just hold on._

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Tails had had seen better days. Literally any other day before had been better, but this? This was absolutely positively insane.

Eggman had decided to launch a full scale attack on Sunset Heights and of course, the resistance was in a frenzy doing their best to try and contain the situation. Not only was this a location that the resistance was barely able to keep from Eggman, but it was home to their base of operations. They couldn't let the city fall.

Knuckles was quick, dispatching any and all troops around the city to save the people and protect the base.

Tails was on rescue duty and had made quick work of any robots that would come his way while pointing people in the right direction.

But he was running amongst the fire, the destruction and everything. He had to be careful not only for the people running and screaming around him or even the laserfire of Eggman's robot army, but also the debris that fell atop their heads due to the constant cannonfire from the ships above ramming into buildings around them.

It was absolute madness.

Which is why he had to run, saving as many as he could.

It wasn't long before he found a clearing in the city. It wasn't much, just a little square that people could use to get into different buildings.

But what did concern him was the fact that he spotted a group of civilians cowering in fear at the sight of the robots.

Tails ran in, swinging his namesakes around and taking out several of the machines.

People cheered as he fought them. Tails, had saved him. They were going to be okay!

When the robots were cleared out, Tails couldn't help but smile before he looked at the others.

"Is everyone okay?" He asked them.

Several of them gave their affirmations only to stiffen at the sound of a light humming from behind the fox.

"No, Tails. You just so happen to be ruining the fun."

Tails spun around, to come face to face with Doctor Eggman sitting with his usual cheshire grin.

"Eggman!" Tails cried out.

"The one and only. Glad to see you little minscreants are enjoying themselves while I burn down this city."

"The only one having fun here is you!"

"Perhaps. But that makes it all the more enjoyable."

Eggman then leaned back against the Eggpod, bored. Looking at Tails, he lazily added. "Y'know, this could all end if you just surrender. No one's hands have to get dirty and I'll even send you all some nice rooms in the Eggman Empire Maximum Security Prison! Free of charge! Nothing but the best for the resistance!"

"We're never surrendering to you, Eggman!"

"Really now? Suit yourselves. But Tails, you expect to go up against all of these robots by yourself?"

Tails looked at him confusedly. "What robots?"

There was a weird sound at that moment and before them, several Eggpongs appeared between Tails and Eggman.

"Wha?!"

"Oh yes, there they are."

Tails looked back to the civilians who were looking terrified at the robots. He waved them back as he looked a little nervously at them.

"I'm not afraid of them!"

"Suit yourself, friend."

And with that, they marched forward, ready to take out the fox.

He took on a stance, ready to take on the army as Eggman gleefully watched the scene play out in front of him.

But in like the wind, a blue blur homed into a robot at the head of the group before bouncing in between a few more. It rose up into the air revealing the world's fastest hero: Sonic the Hedgehog.

The civilians couldn't help but smile and cheer at the sight, one of them, a human child even pointed in the sky and called out his name. **[1]**

But just as quick as he appeared, he seemingly disappeared again. The robots tried to fire on him, but he was just too fast. Seemingly blinking into and out of existence before there was nothing left but a pile of scrap on the floor.

"Is everyone okay?"

They could only cheer; not only Sonic saving them, but seeing him in action first hand.

Tails was the one who answered. "We are thanks to you. Cutting it a little close though, pal."

"Yeah, that's pretty much how I roll."

He then turned and pointed to Eggman, who was still wearing his cheshire grin. "Okay. let's finish this, Eggman!"

But he still smiled at him. "But it will be your finish, Sonic. Behold the power of my ultimate masterpiece!"

He was already running at him before he even got the chance to finish his sentence. He jumped up into the air and homed in on the doctor.

At least, he would've.

But from above came an orange streak of light that slammed into him, knocking him out of his attack and towards the ground.

Tails couldn't help but gulp at the sight, quickly ushering the civilians out of the way and too safety.

Sonic was able to land in a crouch and look up at what had interrupted him. Needless to say, he was shocked at what he saw.

Crouched before him was another hedgehog, this one black in color, with red streaks in the quills around his head. Sonic knew him all too well. He was the darkest of days, the ultimate life form, but most importantly he was a foe turned friend. It was…

"Shadow?!" He gasped.

The hedgehog simply crossed his arms and huffed, looking away from Sonic.

He couldn't believe it. Was he truly Eggman's ultimate creation? But it couldn't possibly be him. What the heck?!

Unfortunately he didn't have much time to think as things continued to get worse.

From atop one of the buildings, a new figure leapt out, landing next to Shadow. This one was a hulking red creature with black legs, clawed hands and feet, a long red tail and long striped horns atop its head. With his wild blue ponytail, spikes protruding from his shoulders and the spiked arm bands he wore, it was no doubt in his mind that it was the tallest of mountains, a mighty Zeti and the leader of the Deadly Six. He was...

"Zavok?!"

"We meet again, hedgehog." The creature snarled as he got up and opened his piercing yellow eyes.

The all familiar sound of rushing wind then followed. They looked up into the sky to see a robot made entirely in Sonic's image swoop down and land in front of them. He was the toughest of terrors, created to stop Sonic at every turn and wreak havoc on the world. He was…

"Metal?!"

He beeped an affirmation.

Finally one of the hydrants in the area burst open to which a stream of water flew into the sky and landed in front of them. It collected before solidifying into a humanoid creature with glowing green eyes and a brain that could be seen through its translucent body. The roughest of waves, a long forgotten enemy and the God of Destruction. It was…

"Chaos?!"

Chaos just stared.

The four of them stood together, glaring at Sonic with Eggman in his pod, continuing to grin at the sight of it couldn't help but think that if looks could kill, he'd be a goner. Taking them all on together would be tough. But he's faced them before. He could take them.

At that moment, a new figure decided to hover down in front of him. It was a dark figure bathed in a dark red aura. It looked to be some sort of canine with its short black fur and long bushy striped tail. But along with that, it had on the usual gloves and shoes, although his were a lot grimmer than most and a scarf. But the most striking things about him had to be his mask, a dull, dirtied silver thing that pointed outwards. The one eye he could see was piercing yellow and showed out amongst the red glass of one side of the helmet, the other however was completely covered. That and the ruby red embed in his chest.

He'd never seen him before.

Of course, he couldn't think much of his appearance. He knew that if he was gonna stand a chance here, then the first thing to do would be to take out the unknown threat as soon as possible.

As soon as the figure touched down, he flicked his nose and was off like a shot, boosting towards it at point blank range.

Except he didn't hit his mark.

"Huh?" Sonic said, looking confusedly at the group who were now looking at him. The figure was standing a foot to the right of where he once was.

As the figure rose into the air, Tails gasped. "This guy's faster than Sonic!"

"No he's not! My aim was off!" Sonic retorted he dodged laserfire from the being before homing in on it.

But it knocked him out of the attack, punting him into the air like a soccer ball before flying up and sending a roundhouse into his stomach. He slammed into the wall behind him, causing it to crumble and the rubble to fall around him. He let out a groan at this, knowing that as soon as the adrenaline wore off he was gonna be sore.

Tails cringed at the sight, before snapping his attention back to the figure above. "No, wait! It's something else. Gotta scan him to figure this out."

Sonic was rising up to his feet only for the figure to shoot more lasers at him.

He quickly dodged only for more trouble to come his way in the form of a roaring Zeti.

Sonic was quick to dodge his punch before sending a roundhouse into his stomach, causing him to stumble. **[2]**

He then boosted away, completely knocking him off balance. He jumped in the air going for the being, but it dodged again.

This time, Metal was the one to attempt to meet him on his path. But he caught wind of this, stomping to the ground so that the he wouldn't get him.

Once again, he tried to hit the being, but it dodged.

He landed atop a building only for Chaos to appear and grapple with him.

"What are you? How are you doing this?" Sonic asked.

He got his answer in the form of a kick to the stomach which knocked him across the pavement.

"Nice." Eggman smiled.

Sonic groaned. Slowly rising to his feet again. "Tails, I need to know what's going on with this guy!"

Tails now had out his Miles Electric and pressed buttons atop the console. "I'm trying Sonic, but these readings are all messed up! They don't make any sense!"

Sonic slipped under another roundhouse from the being before bouncing away.

The thing was upon him before he even had the chance to land, kicking him into the wall.

Once again, it crumbled underneath him. To him it felt like an eternity for his body to slowly peel off of it when it was only a few moments.

When he finally did, the being was already upon him, sending him up into the sky.

He cried out as he was struck by attacks from all of them.

When he was finally thrown to the floor, he tried to get up on shaky legs, ragged breath and swimming vision.

But it was too much for him. His body gave out and the world around him went dark.

The last things he registered were the sounds of his little brother screaming his name and the sight of the figure's feet.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

That day, Sunset Heights had fallen. Eggman's armies were able to seize control of the city with the help of the generals of his empire: Shadow, Metal Sonic, Chaos and Zavok. Not only had the city been lost but the resistance had taken a heavy hit with their base being destroyed and losing so many of their forces that day, including the world's greatest hero: Sonic the Hedgehog.

With that, the world was plunged into chaos. With this new power of his, Eggman had been able to conquer large portions of the world, despite the resistance's best efforts. Battles had been won and battles had been lost.

But in the end? It didn't matter as the Eggman Empire crossed the globe and without Sonic? The world fell.

 **[1] Humans are included in this story just as much as the animal characters are. I imagine them in the Unleashed style and you'll be seeing a lot of them as both civilians as well as a few in the resistance.  
[2] Yes, I know originally Sonic blocks Zavok's punch. But honestly? Are we really supposed to believe that Sonic is able to block a punch from Zavok the frikin' tank with his noodle arms? Zavok's fist alone is about the size of Sonic's head so… yeah.**

 **So... yeah. That's chapter one of Sonic Forces. I'm sorry that I didn't do much with this chapter, I felt the most important thing was just to introduce everything and that the way the game did it was fine. But yeah... I'm off to write the next chapter. Tell me what you thought in reviews or PMs.  
But first, if you're interested in this story, I want you to tell me how I should handle the custom character in this story. I want reader input. Should I actually make an OC for this story to use or should I keep them vague so that you all can imagine whoever you want them to be. This fic is for you guys as much as it is for me, so let me know in either your review or answer the poll I left on my profile. This ends whenever I'm ready to update so vote now.  
**


	2. Chapter 1: Justice

**And we're back again for another round of this fic. What do we have in store for this one? Well, that's simple, we're about to meet the custom character. So… most of you wanted a real OC so I guess I'll do that. Without further ado, let's begin shall we.**

 **Sonic Forces-**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Justice**

Destruction.

That was all the city knew at this point.

Robots patrolled the streets, enforcing the law of the Eggman Empire.

Cannonfire constantly rained upon the city in a never ending hellfire.

The city was in so much disarray, that it was a shell of its former self.

But if that wasn't bad enough?

Then the entire army of Death Egg Robots destroying everything in their path?

Ever since Sonic the Hedgehog had been defeated and the Eggman Empire had risen, the world had not been a safe place; especially in Sunset Heights.

At least, that's what thirteen year old Celeste the Dog thought.

The young dog had stuck to an abandoned building in the middle of town as she watched her hometown fall to the might of the empire. Only time she left was to get food and water, but otherwise, the young dog kept to her own personal bunker.

But now, she cowered under the table as the sirens blared all over the city. That meant that the Resistance was here.

She always appreciated the work the resistance did. They saved a lot of people around the world and even her own a few times. Heck, that's how she got a wispon in the first place. But despite it all, she found it all pointless. Eggman had taken over so much and with that _thing_ on his side, there was no way they could possibly defeat him. Especially when Sonic had lost to it.

She preferred to hide.

Even with the protection of her battered Wispon, she didn't dare try anything. She had even been too scared to test the thing out; especially with the dents all over its near spherical frame. And honestly, on what? What could she have used it on? Go outside and trash some of Eggman's robots and get a one-way ticket to who knows whatever prison Eggman had or worse? No.

She would stay here, huddled under a table, desperately clutching their Wispon as everything went on outside.

She jumped at the sound of projectiles slamming against the side of the building. Rubble fell but the building stayed strong. She trembled, whimpering underneath the table. Whenever the cannons were so close, it always terrified her. She needed to calm down, slow her breathing and just stop whimpering like a baby.

She stopped, she breathed, she was finally able to stay calm. She was safe. Nothing would happen to her.

With a ragged breath, they got she got up from under the table. It was going to be okay. Everything was fine.

And that's when the door burst open.

A single Egg Pong stood in front of him with its cream spherical body and arm blaster trained on her.

It stood there for a few seconds before it looked down at the weapon underneath the bed.

The enemy was here.

"Wispon: Located. Subject: Unknown. Conclusion: Member of the resistance."

Her eyes widened at that. "What?! No!"

"Turn yourself in or be eliminated!"

"No, please! I'm not part of the resistance! I'm just trying to protect myself!"

"Elimination selected."

The robot raised his arm blaster towards him and fired, letting out a flurry of lasers towards them.

The dog yelped at that and dove out of the way of the first few shots. But the robot followed, and they scampered away. But not without getting her tail singed.

She begged for the robot to stop, but it wouldn't.

She ran around the room, scared as blasts ripped holes in the walls.

And then, among all the running and screaming and laser blasts, she spotted the Wispon. There it was sitting under the table where she'd left it. But what was she supposed to do with it? Strike it down?

But the thing was shooting up her home and it didn't look like it was going to stop.

A laser grazed her ear, lightly singing blue fur. And that's when she knew she didn't have a choice.

She ran for the weapon, still barely dodging the shots before going into a roll and scooping up the weapon. She landed in a crouch and pulled the trigger.

She didn't expect the burst of flame to come so quickly or to punch so hard that it shattered the robot on impact and tore a hole through the wall. But it did.

Celeste let out a sigh of relief and fell to her knees.

But that wasn't the end of her troubles.

The hole in the wall caught the attention of more of the army. Buzz Bombers flew in and the robots below quickly ran into the building entrance. They wouldn't be long.

But right now, she had the immediate problem of the Buzzer Bombers that were in front of her now, preparing to fire.

 _ **Here come the enemy! Strike them down!**_

She didn't hesitate this time, the need for survival overriding her own fear as she fired a burst of flame at them. They exploded before her and with that, she quickly ran out of the room and up the stairs to avoid the robots below.

She arrived on the roof where she was bathed in the ever present twilight of Sunset Heights. Normally this would be calming for Celeste. But now, she was exposed to the warzone that was the city. Of course, she didn't have much time to look around.

The robots made it to the roof and the scared little dog didn't have much of a choice. She could either face the whole pack of robots or she could run.

She didn't like his odds with the robots so she looked for any escapes. Unfortunately, the only way down was the way she came.

Although, scanning around she did see the next roof over was a bit lower than this one. If she ran fast enough...

But that was crazy! There was no way she could do something like that.

Turning back, she saw the robots charging their blasts again and didn't want to stick around for that. Roof it was.

And that's how flawed logic and the need to survive sent her tumbling off of a roof.

Luckily, she made a safe landing. But she still couldn't help but think how stupid she was to have tried something like that.

The robots above looked back at her, they looked between one another before following her off the roof.

Of course, unlike her, they didn't have the speed to make the jump and fell to the ground where they came broke into millions of pieces.

Celeste found it kinda funny. She wanted to laugh but was quickly cut off by the Buzz Bombers flying in.

They shot blasts at her and she was off again, now hopping rooftop to rooftop as she tried to avoid the laserfire from the flying robots.

But they just kept coming and coming and soon, she'd run out of roof.

So that's when she spun around, gripping the wispon and allowing the flames to come forth and dismantle the robots.

 _ **We can't let evil win take 'em out! This is justice! This is what's right!**_

She needed to get to the ground now, and thankfully he spotted another stairwell leading into a new building and into the building. She was out on the streets again, and now was making his way down a familiar street. Park Avenue.

 _ **Here come the enemy mess 'em up!**_

More of the robots appeared down the street, charging their laser blasts. This time, Celeste was ready, firing on all of them with the Wispon before rushing through the destruction.

She continued to run, honestly having no idea what she was doing at this point as the robots seemed to fixate on her.

 _ **And bring 'em to their knees do your stuff! Time for justice time to go fight!**_

Celeste continued to run, taking out more of Eggman's forces as she went on down Park Avenue leaving a messy trail of scrap in her wake.

She knew she needed a plan. But so far all she had was run and shoot.

Robots came and met the flames as she continued down Park Avenue.

But soon, she began to tire. She needed to get somewhere safe now.

She arrived in an open area. It was circular in shape and had a loop out in the distance. There were a few buildings there. She thought that one of them would be a good place to hide out.

But that's when she heard the marching and looked to see more of the robots.

She now stood surrounded by the robots which all stood a circle around her. She gulped. This was pretty bad. Tired and surrounded. How was she ever going to get out of this.

She looked on as they prepared to fire and clutched her wispon. There was no other way to do it. She had to fight.

 _ **Destiny lies before you…**_

She fired on several of the robots, destroying a few only for them to fire. One clipped her tail, which stung but he continued on.

 _ **I believe you have the power!**_

She continued to fire, jumping over a few blasts from more of the Egg Pongs and getting a couple Buzz Bombers.

 _ **Can you see your horizon?**_

Celeste only had a few left. But they still returned fire. She fired back, just barely avoiding them.

 _ **Victory's for the taking!**_

The last of the robots was destroyed and with that they fell to their knees. It was done. It was finished.

She was exhausted and needed to find somewhere safe quick before she passed out. She staggered to her feet and looked at the buildings around her. Surely one of them would-

And that's when Celeste heard something else approaching. _What more could they possibly want?_ She wondered as he shakily held his Wispon in front of her.

But what she was greeted with was not quite what he expected.

It was a red wolf wearing glasses a green belt, boots and an earpiece of the same color.

"What in the world?" The wolf said taking in the sight of all the scrap scattered around the area.

Celeste was about to speak, but his breath fell short. The wolf was able to hear the gasp and looked at them.

"Chaos! Kid, did you do this?"

Celeste weakly nodded.

"Alright. We need to get you out of here. If you really did do this then Eggman's robots aren't gonna stop looking for you. Once they get a read on a threat, they won't stop until they well.. Y'know."

They nodded but couldn't help but find it ironic. The robots were the ones who threatened her in the first place. But she supposed that was the way things go.

He pulled out a communicator and pressed a button on the side. "Fierro. Can you get to sector 7G of the city. I've got a kid here that took out a whole pack of Eggman Robots. They can't stay here."

"Yeah, okay. Understood. Gadget out."

The wolf, Gadget, then looked at the dog that was slipping out of consciousness. He smiled at her and said, "Don't worry. Everything will be fine, you're with the resistance now."

 **And… end chapter. So we met Celeste, Gadget and had the level Sunset Heights. I have plans for Gadget that you'll find out more about in the next chapter. Of course, if you know me personally then you might already know. But we'll see about that later, now won't we?**

 **Now what will happen now that she's with the resistance? Sonic is dead? What happens now? Find out in the next chapter entitled Fighting Onward.**

 **R &R!**


	3. Chapter 2: Fighting Onward

**And now we arrive on Chapter 3. This is one I'm pretty excited about and can't wait to start. So… without further ado, let's check on Celeste.**

 **Sonic Forces:**

 **Chapter 2-**

 **Fighting Onward**

When she finally came to. She found herself in a white room.

She was lying down on a table of the same color. The room smelled of medicine, she was hooked up to a heart monitor.

She slowly sat up so that she was still on the bed and now leaning against the wall.

Celeste wasn't really sure where she was, but she figured that she was at least safe if they took the time to take care of her.

That was when the door slid open and in walked in a short cream colored rabbit that couldn't have been older ten. She wore a little orange dress and shoes of the same color. A Chao flew in behind her.

The rabbit gasped at the sight of the dog awkwardly staring at her. "Uh… hello!"

"Oh my goodness you're awake!" She then called out of the room. "Mr. Gadget! Mr. Corvin! Ms. Rhythm! Ms. Fierro! Our friend has woken up!"

"Chao! Chao! Chao!" The chao called after her.

She then rushed over to the table and held Celeste's hand. "How are you feeling? Are you sore? Anything broken?!"

"Chao?! Chao?! Chao?! Chao?!" The chao called after her.

Celeste chuckled. "Just a little sore."

"Oh thank goodness. We were so worried about you when you came in."

"Yeah… where am I?"

"Oh, you're in the resistance Headquarters. I'm Cream the Rabbit and this is Cheese. I help do a lot of things for the resistance like run the hospital with my mom."

"Chao! Chao!"

"Huh, nice. I'm Celeste. And Resistance HQ? But that was destroyed. We're still in Sunset?"

"Well…"

That was when the door slid open again and in walked Gadget as well as a few other new faces.

The first was a turquoise bird wearing a black shirt with two blue arrows on it complete with camo pants and black sneakers. **[1]**

The next was a pink cat which wore a simple black shirt and a skirt. **[2]**

Finishing off the group was another rabbit. This one was orange, had messy auburn hair and one of her ears bent down. She wore a black top, skinny jeans and black boots. **[3]**

All of them looked reasonably older than both her and Cream. Maybe college students if she had to guess.

"Kid! You're okay!" Gadget beamed, running over to her bedside. "You gave me quite a scare when you passed out!"

"But aren't you always scared?" The bird smirked at him.

The rabbit snickered and elbowed him. "Hush, Corvin."

"Come on, we can't deny that Gadget's a little jumpy." The rabbit shrugged.

Gadget chuckled and nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Aw. Come on guys, I'm not that bad."

"Oh no! Is that Eggman walking into the medical bay?!" The bird, Corvin, gasped.

The others laughed and Celeste couldn't help but giggle herself.

"I only fell for that once!"

"It's okay, Mr. Gadget. I would've been scared too."

Gadget patted Cream on the back. "Thanks, Cream. At least someone understands me."

The rabbit smiled.

"But for real, how are you feeling uh... "

"Celeste. And I'm doing better, thanks."

"That's good to hear. Anyway, I don't think I've introduced, myself. I'm Gadget." He smiled.

The cat spoke up. "Hello. I'm Fierro."

"The name's Corvin." The bird leaned against the wall and gave a two finger salute.

"Rhythm." The rabbit nodded.

Celeste smiled. "Nice to meet you all."

"We're just really glad you're okay." Fierro smiled.

"Yeah. Taking on all those robots like that?" Rhythm asked. "Aw man, that must've been a rush."

"What were you thinking?!" Gadget shouted.

"I dunno. Eggman's robots just started chasing me and I did what I had to."

"You definitely showed them who's boss!" Corvin cheered.

"Sunset needs more heroes." Fierro nodded. "It's good what you did."

She shook her head. "I wouldn't say I was a hero…"

"A lot of people were saved because you distracted the robots, Ms. Celeste!"

"Don't be so modest, hon." Rhythm shook her head. "You did a good thing."

Celeste blushed. "Thank you…"

They all talked for a little while talking of what went down in Sunset Heights. Apparently the resistance had been on the scene trying to see if they could cut down on the Death Egg Robots on the other side of town. Apparently Silver and Espio managed to deal a bit of damage to a few of them, but none were destroyed. Celeste had learned that she had apparently distracted quite a few of the other units from getting to the resistance with her run down Park Avenue.

It was all fun and games until the door opened again. This time, standing in the door frame was a red echidna and a pink hedgehog poking her head inside.

Celeste knew exactly who they were. People she'd only seen on TV but there they were standing right in front of her. Celeste didn't know how to react. It was such an honor to be in the room with them and she just fell silent. What could she say to some of the world's greatest heroes.

Everyone else in the room straightened at the sight of them. "Commander Knuckles! Captain Rose!" They saluted.

Knuckles dismissed them with the wave of a hand.

Amy on the other hand shushed them. "Please, none of this captain stuff. I told you all that just Amy is fine."

"Speak for yourself." The Echidna chuckled. "I happen to like being Commander."

Amy shot him a glare.

"I mean, yes. Just Knuckles is fine."

"Mr. Knuckles, Ms. Amy, what are you doing here?"

Amy shrugged. "We came to check on our patient."

She then turned to Celeste. "How are you feeling, honey?"

She stuttered. _Amy Rose just spoke to her._ But she had to play it cool. "I-I'm okay. Thank you, Amy."

"Good to hear." Knuckles nodded. "Now, there's the matter of what went down in Sunset Heights and honestly? I'm not sure if I should thank you or slap you."

"I-I'm sorry…"

"Knuckles!" Amy shouted.

"What? I'm being honest! What this kid did was reckless and stupid. You're not one of ours so how did you even get a Wispon in the first place?"

"I found it…"

"Wispons go missing all the time, Knuckles; _and_ she lives in Sunset Heights. She probably took it to defend herself."

She shakily nodded her head.

"Still, alerting all of those robots? She could've gotten herself killed. What was she thinking?"

"I was scared, I didn't know what to do. I just ran and ended up fighting the robots."

"Well… that was stupid."

Amy shot him a glare.

"Still… you did a lot of good and made a situation better for us. Because of your help, our forces were able to have a better time with the Death Egg Robots. So thank you for that, uh... "

"Celeste." She smiled only for it to fall. She had helped in Sunset Heights, but now what? "What happens to me now?"

"Well, one of two things." Knuckles said. "We can't send you back to Sunset."

"What, but Sunset is-"

"Home. We know." Amy answered. "We're sorry, honey. But it's just not safe for you there."

"Sunset Heights is far too dangerous a place to live. Especially for you now that all the robots have a beat on you."

"So what then?"

"We can send you to a refugee camp out in Adabat. Nice and calm and out on the sea. It'll be like you're on a vacation and you'll have the protection of the resistance."

Celeste couldn't deny that that sounded nice. The islands of Adabat were such a nice place. She'd be safe.

"Or… you could join the resistance." Knuckles smiled. "Even if you looked like an idiot in Sunset…"

She chuckled and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"You show some potential. If you join the resistance, you could be a hero. Save people, save Sunset, save the world."

They all looked at her expectantly, awaiting her answer.

She had a huge decision to make. The choice between fighting or fleeing.

On the one hand, she'd be safe and be able to live it up in Adabat. Surf, sea and sand. Rest and recuperation. What more could she ask for really?

But at the same time, fighting with the resistance didn't sound like that bad of an idea. Sure… what happened at Park Avenue, was the stupidest, most stressful situation she had ever gone through. But at the same time… there was a kind of rush of it all. She liked watching the robots be blown to smithereens. But mindless destruction wasn't enough to be a hero. What was enough was the thought of her home. Sunset Heights had been in danger for so long. If she really did join the resistance, she could help save the world, help save her home.

But she wasn't a hero like any of the people standing around her. Her run through Park Avenue was a fluke.

Then again, maybe she could fix that. Maybe she could really save her home, save Sunset.

And so that's how she found herself saying… "Yes."

"Yes?"

"I'll join the resistance."

The others smiled at her.

Now she was a part of the resistance and well… it would be interesting.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Celeste could tell you that she wasn't starstruck. But honestly that was a lie.

She still stood with her new friends. But she was standing amongst world renowned heroes. Team Chaotix! And Silver the Hedgehog! It took everything in her being not to scream at the sight of them. But instead, give Silver a tentative handshake. The Chaotix greeted with waves.

Her near fangirlish death aside, she directed our attention back at the Commander who standing before them.

"Welcome. Glad you could all make it to this meeting." Knuckles smiled.

"But you told us if we didn't get here in the next few minutes, you'd send us out on a mission in Metropolis by ourselves!" Charmy chirped to which he got a slap to the back of the head by Vector.

"Of course, Knuckles was kidding." Amy said, before shooting a glare at the commander. "Right, Knuckles?"

Knuckles chuckled awkwardly. "Of course."

"Anyway… What we have here is extremely important. First, I'm sure you've all been introduced to the rookie here. Her name is Celeste, we'll be using this mission to test out her skills."

"And that mission is?" Corvin asked.

Knuckles nodded to Amy and in a short moment, a holographic image of the globe appeared. Amy did a bit of fiddling with it before it zoomed towards the top of the globe and displayed images of large mechanical buildings rising out of the ocean.

Amy was the one to speak this time. "What you're looking at is Eggman's Chemical Plant off the coast of Holoska. Our intel tells us that he carries out experiments here and ships out the results to Green Hill." **[4]**

"But that's not all." Knuckles added. "Eggman also has an entire fleet of ships in a spaceport just a little off of the Chemical Plant. If we can _borrow_ one of the ships, we can take one up to the Death Egg!"

"The Death Egg! That's perfect!" Silver cheered.

Celeste shuddered at the thought. "Um… the Death Egg? Why is that perfect. It's well… the Death Egg."

"The Death Egg is where Eggman has kept our fallen brethren." Espio explained. "When the resistance base in Sunset had fallen, he gathered a collection of our forces and sent them off to prison in the Death Egg."

"Any of our boys that old Eggman decides to leave alive gets a one-way ticket." Vector added.

Celeste gulped at that. "And you want that to be my first mission?"

"Nothing shows character like a dangerous mission." Knuckles grinned.

Celeste gulped.

"Now the plan is simple. We're dividing into three teams. First up, the Chaotix will go into the Space Port first from the mainland, Silver and I will take a team and make our way in from the western side of the sea and Betas, you and the rookie will be on the east. We'll rendezvous in the center of the island where we'll be able to hijack a shuttle and make our way into the Death Egg."

"I'll be monitoring everything from here, of course." Amy added.

"Everybody okay on the plan?"

Everybody agreed.

But Celeste had a question. "Uh… Betas?"

"That would be us." Fierro said.

Standing behind her were Gadget, Rhythm and Corvin .

"We're Beta Squad! We're the best of the best of the resistance aside from the heroes like well, the people here."

"You guys have proven yourselves time and time again. We'd have lost some battles without you guys." Silver patted Gadget on the back to which the wolf gave him an awkward smile.

"Fierro, you're one of the best squad leaders in the resistance. There's no one I'd trust more with the rookie than well… me." Knuckles nodded to which she saluted.

She nodded.

"So now that we've all got our orders. Let's go!"

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Vector the Crocodile hated the cold.

But this was the mission they were given so he knew he had to go through. The other teams were in their positions and they were in there's now it was a matter of going through and getting a shuttle.

"Grrrrr It's freezing." Vector grumbled.

Espio nodded. "I don't like it either. But we have our orders."

"Couldn't Eggman have picked somewhere warmer to have his big rocket ships in like Seaside Hill or somethin'?"

"But Seaside Hill is for boats, not rockets, silly." Charmy smiled.

"And sleds are for Holoska, yet the rockets are still here."

"We must be quiet. Stealth is of the utmost importance on this mission." Espio chided.

"Yeah, yeah… I got it." Vector rolled his eyes.

He continued to walk only to step onto the metal of the facility.

Immediately when he did so alarms started blaring and Egg Pongs appeared before them.

Amy's voice crackled to life on the radio. "Several hostiles have appeared in you area."

"We can see that, Amy. Thanks." Vector remarked.

The three stood together, ready for battle.

"Alright, Chaotix. Let's show these creeps what happens when you mess with Chaotix."

"Right!"

"Yeah!"

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Snow drifted calmly onto the chemical plant from the Holoskan skies. Ships flew above the the giant metal constructs, large buildings rose from the waters and the usual twisting paths of Eggman's chemical plants were present. All of it was covered in a thin blanket of icy snow.

"Alright, Betas! Rookie! Full speed ahead! We're hightailing it to the center of the island." Fierro announced.

They were running along the frozen paths of the chemical plant.

The rest of the squad cheered at that.

Celeste liked their enthusiasm as they continued along.

But the path ended. Luckily for them, the resistance had provided them with grappling hooks that they used to swing their way onto the next platform.

Of course, not Corvin. Corvin had an extreme gear which he used to fly there.

That's when their coms crackled to life.

"Espio here. We're engaging the enemy in enemy in the orbital tunnel! I think we can hold them off for now."

Suddenly a noise rang out. The very familiar sound of distortion. "No, wait!"

Celeste and the squad looked at each other, eyes widened in fear. They knew that noise, everybody in the world knew that noise.

Amy's voice was the one that came out on the other end. "Espio! Espio! Espio! Team Chaotix, come in!"

"Espio?!" Knuckles cried.

A second passed and finally, it crackled back to life. "Watch out! The masked one is here!" Espio stated that both calmed and disturbed them at what he had said. "The monster that took down Sonic!"

Celeste gasped. That thing was there. The one with seemingly impossible powers that had thrown the world into chaos. And the Chaotix were fighting it, alone. "We have to go back for them!"

Fierro shook her head. "No. We have our orders."

"But they're fighting that monster alone! We can't just leave them!"

Fierro just shook her head and turned away. "Stay focused, Celeste. We're off to find a shuttle."

The others nodded and headed off.

Celeste sighed and Gadget put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it'll be alright. Vector and the others are tough and can handle themselves."

"Right."

"And we've got bigger problems."

Robots stood in their path, but it seemed the rest of the squad was up ahead. And they were busy.

Fierro took the lead. Using her void wispon, she let out a ball of light that just carried a group of robots away. Before imploding and wiping them away.

Rhythm was next, she took out her Cube Wispon. It was a hammer shaped into the likeness of the wisp, which she lunged into the air and swung down hard into the ground. It produced a shockwave that encased the robots in front of her into cubes.

Corvin came next, still on his gear he brandished a drill wispon which he charged up and used to propel him and his board into the robots that Rhythm froze.

Then there was Gadget, he had a burst wispon that he used to torch a few of them as well.

Celeste couldn't let the betas have all the fun though. She had a Lightning wispon now which she got insisting not to steal Gadget's thunder… By taking the lightning. And so she brought it to life and out came a wisp completely composed of electricity. She swung and took out a few of the robots in her path before following the squad.

They swung up to the top of one of the buildings and continued on another pathway.

More robots came in their path and they continued to fight.

Amongst the vortexes, flames, lightning and all the robot parts and all, Rhythm spoke up. "Y'know, I think I've figured out that song I'm working on."

"Oh?" Corvin asked.

"Let's hear it!" Gadget added.

She swung her hammer and started. "Who is it we're fighting for? Inside this crazy fire storm, there's no one left to save the world!"

She hummed.

Parts flew and more stuff went in as she hummed.

"In the distance I can see the light of hope, shining… Can't give in or we'll lose it all. No surrenderin' we will carry on, fighting. Battlin' to win back our world!"

They continued to fight as she sang. Celeste was getting a hang of the whip, letting the thing fly and slice into the badniks all around them. Ironically enough, it was over when she finished humming the tune of her song.

"Rocked it Rhythm!" Corvin said as he gave her a fist bump.

She laughed. "The song or the robots."

"The song. Although, if you ask me, you're getting a little slow on your swing."

"I thought you were the one that was slow on that board of yours."

Corvin gasped and clutched his stomach as if he had been stabbed to which the rabbit laughed.

That was when Celeste spoke up. "That was great! Where'd she learn to do that?"

Fierro answered. "She's our resident songbird."

"Because our actual bird can't carry a tune." Gadget laughed.

"Hey!"

Rhythm then answered her earlier question. "I'm a DJ on the Empire City Night Club scene. But I write some of my own songs. Someday, I'm gonna become bigger than Shadi and Li'l Kate!" **[5]**

"Rhythm's gonna be huge!" Corvin added.

"After the war though." She said. "We've gotta stop Eggman first. _No surrendering, we will carry on… fighting. Battlin' for a better world!_ "

They applauded her and with that the group continued on. They swung onto a new platform that was surrounded by barbed wire only to find themselves face to face with a grind rail.

"Uh… I've never used a grind rail before."

Beta Squad looked at one another before Gadget spoke up.

Gadget was the one who spoke up. "It's easy. You just get into position and just let the momentum carry you."

She looked at the thing and still looked scared.

"You guys go ahead. I've got this." Gadget said. The rest of the squad nodded and continued, riding the rail until they were out of view.

"I was scared of these things too." Gadget said. "But sometimes if you go with a buddy, it can help. So do you wanna go with me, Celeste?"

She nodded.

So together they went on the grind rail. It was nothing. Celeste wasn't really sure why she was scared in the first place but she was glad Gadget was there for her.

But when they got off, they found the others atop a large platform fighting a bunch of robots.

They both took out their wispons and charged into battle.

Celeste let her whip go flying. She swung her whip and it sliced through a few of the Eggpongs. She dodged, she wrapped them up and continue to slice. But what she didn't notice was how dangerously close they were to the ledge.

When a robot fired at her, she went flying off with a scream.

"CELESTE!" The Beta's cried out.

She reached out and found some sort of platform but it was moving and moving fast. She climbed aboard only to find it was one of the freight trains.

In that time, Beta Squad finished off the robots and looked to see that Celeste was fine and had landed on a freight train. The only problem was that it was approaching a tunnel that the youngest member of their party would not be able to fit under.

They all screamed her name.

She looked up only to scream at the sight of the approaching wall. She didn't know what to do, she was going to die here. Her mind was racing, what was she going to do? She had no means of escape.

Escape!

Her grappling hook!

She could get out of this and she needed to do it now.

She thrust her hand up into the air and fired, not bothering to look for where it went, she needed to get off now and was carried off into the air.

The wind whipped past her, her ears flopping with it, but soon she was atop the building. But unfortunately atop that building was another railway and with it an approaching train.

She didn't think again and just fired the grapple and swung.

She landed in an entirely different section of the plant. She had no idea where she was but she knew that the best thing to do would be to call the Betas.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

"Breathe, Gadget! Breathe!" Fierro yelled. "Calm down!"

They all looked at the hyperventilating wolf.

Corvin casually handed him a paper bag that he breathed into. _In… out… in... out… Relax._

He finally reached a point where he was at the point of breathing.

"That kid is nuts!"

Corvin smirked. "I like her."

Fierro sighed. "At least she's alive… I think. Not very becoming of Beta Squad to lose a rookie on a high priority mission like this."

That's when their radio flickered to life.

"Uh… hi?" Celeste's voice came from the other side.

"You're alive!" Gadget cried out.

"Where are you?" Fierro asked.

"Uh… i don't know… I'm in another section of the plant?"

"Can you see anything?"

A moment passed and she answered. "I think I can see the launch pad up ahead!"

"Then go on ahead and we'll meet at the shuttle."

"Okay."

 **~Sonic Forces~**

That's when the radio sparked to life for everyone. It was Silver. "Let's head in while Espio keeps them busy."

"We need to get to the shuttle now." Knuckles said.

"You're getting close." Amy said. "All of you should be meeting up shortly. Celeste, looks like you're the closest."

She was off, whipping her way through all the robots in her path before she finally arrived on a grind rail leading to the launch pad.

This time she was able to handle it on her own without problem.

When she finally arrived, there was an open ship waiting for her.

That seemed suspicious.

She held her wispon cautiously at her side, only for someone to come out. And well, she did not expect her.

"Rouge the Bat?!"

"Well now, you seem an awful long way from home. Are you lost sweetie? Should I find your mommy?"

"What? No. I-I'm part of the resistance."

"Must be a new recruit then, cause I've never seen your face before. Knuckie otta tell me about these things these days."

"Knuckie?"

The bat only laughed and that's when Knuckles, Silver and the rest of the betas arrived.

"Huh, you made it here first, rookie. Good for you." Knuckles said.

He then addressed the rest of the team. "Alright, we're all here now. The Chaotix are busy dealing with Eggman's pet monster so we're gonna have to head out without them. They'll be okay though. As long as they're able to keep him busy it's less trouble for us on the Death Egg. Now let's fly out."

And with that, the rocket shot off into space, their destination? The Death Egg.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The Chaotix stood in the cold, snow fell and they were surrounded by busted robot parts as well as damage to the general area itself; metal was torn to pieces, throwing knives were left stuck to different things or just discarded on the ground, ice had even formed on the ground in patches. It was a mess. They were tired, but had to keep fighting him if the plan was to work.

"The world's greatest detectives. The master told me that you three would be worthy adversaries, but I never expected you to put up this much of a fight."

"What can we say, The Chaotix never give up." Vector smirked.

"If you can't handle us, then you should go and cry to your daddy." Charmy added.

"Can't handle you?" The being asked only to let out a short laugh. "I've only just begun to show off my power and yet you all begin to tire? Not worth my time."

That's when they all saw the ship taking off to the Death Egg. Espio couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at that.

But the thing on the other hand just shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk… And it seems you rabble never learn. Hijacking one of our ships. I'll deal with you lot now."

The being was prepared to fly off towards it.

"NO!" They all shouted.

"Your fight is with us!" Espio stated. "If you really are an honorable foe then you'll finish what you started!"

The being looked between the three fighters and the fleeting spacecraft.

A beat of silence passed before the creature finally adjusted his mask and turned back to them.

"Very well. Let's finish this."

 **[1] Corvin the bird. He's been featured in a lot of art for Sonic Forces, usually the one with the Drill Wispon and most specifically in the official Space Port gameplay reveal.**

 **[2] Fierro the Cat. This cool cat is everywhere too. She's usually the one holding the drill wispon in most of the promotional art.**

 **[3] Rhythm the Rabbit. Okay… so I dunno if Rhythm is actually in promotional art. But I know you can spot her in brief moments in different gameplay and trailers.**

 **[4] I've overanalyzed Forces environments to unhealthy levels. So… yeah. I'm pretty sure the crates in Chemical Plant are the ones in Green Hill.**

 **[5] They're the two singer NPCs you help in Sonic Unleashed. I like to think that they became famous. But yeah.**

 **And that'll do for Chapter 2. Wow. That was a long one. Closer to 5,000 words? Definitely something I haven't done in a while, but man. I had fun doing it. So yeah, we've done it. A little bit of character development. A little bit of action. It was fun. I had fun with this.**

 **I've been waiting for a while to fit Beta Squad into something and I thought, hey! I can fit them in this fanfiction! I was looking at those four characters one day and started making up character info about them and put 'em in a squad. They'll develop a little bit in this too since I already know what I wanna do with them and love 'em too much. No promises, but maybe if I feel up for it, later I could make a Sonic Forces: Episode Beta sorta deal about them. But like I said, no promises.**

 **But yeah, that'll do for this chapter. Next time? I dunno. But hey, I wonder how Tails is doing? Until next time.**

 **R &R**


	4. Chapter 3: Always a Way

**And we're back again. I'm glad that people are enjoying the fic. I'm having a lot of fun with it. Anyways, this one should be a rather short chapter. At least, I think… Here's to hoping! Haha…**

 **Oh, but before I continue let's do some review replies.**

 **Mr Meme: Yes! Cream and Vanilla aren't dead. I thought they were so easy to include, I just did it. Something simple but also fitting. But don't worry, Cream will get something nice in this story that I have planned. ;) Blue Gadget? Nothing planned yet, but who knows? Am I allowed to say his name in this fic yet? Eh… probably not much. But hey, maybe pay attention to that line. ;)**

 **Bajy: Hey! Thank so much. Gonna have to say no for the moment.**

 **Tekina Fiction: Gonna say thanks again for the review!**

 **Sonic Forces:**

 **Chapter 3-**

 **Always a Way**

While most of the chaos went down in the main sections of Sunset Heights, the southern end of the city was a lot more quiet. Of course that was because Eggman had already had his fun there. It was deserted. Buildings were worn down, had holes in them and didn't look like they would last much longer, the streets were vacant as if they were never occupied in the first place, fires also were left around. It was truly a sad sight for a city as gorgeous as Sunset Heights to get to have a ghost town within it. But that was the world they lived in.

Miles Prower knew that. There was nothing they could do. It had been a few months since the day that the world fell and his brother was… was… well, he didn't like to think about that.

With Sonic gone, his world had been turned upside down and he felt so entirely helpless. So he ran from the problem. He both relished and hated this decision but what could he do now? Even if he wanted to rejoin his friends, he didn't even know where the resistance was since their old base was destroyed.

Still, Tails wasn't heartless and that's how he found himself working on Omega. The once powerful member of Team Dark had been sitting inoperable in Sunset Heights, rusting away for months. He wasn't sure how exactly he got there, but he had to guess it happened when everything went crazy on that day so many months ago.

So he did the one thing he knew best. He fixed Omega. Or at least, attempted to.

Whatever was going on with his internal circuitry, he had no idea. But there was nothing he couldn't fix.

Pressing his hand against the face of the robot, he looked into his lifeless eyes. "I'm not giving up on you, buddy… just hold on tight."

Of course, Omega didn't respond.

Tails stood there for a moment, just looking into the robot's eyes for any sign of life. But nothing. He sighed and got back to work.

If he could just get _something_ to work then just maybe, just maybe… he'd have at least one of his friends back.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The God of destruction didn't like going through these strange human villages all that much, but he had to if he wanted to make it in time for the meeting with Eggman and his cohorts.

So that's how he found himself slinking through the sewers of Sunset Heights.

This section of town was relatively quiet which he preferred. Reminded him of the calmer days with his brethren before… he couldn't even think about it. It was too painful.

They deserved it and he was very thankful for the help of his… friends? No. Not quite. But still, they helped him in his pursuit of revenge and that much was good enough for him

They would pay for what they had done.

Was there anyone he could take out now. Just to help ease his pain?

Yes… he sensed one. Chaos couldn't help but smile to himself. He was about to have some fun.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

"And… there." Tails smiled as he put two wires together.

But Omega remained unmoving.

"No. I swear I had it this time!"

He deflated. "I'm sorry, Omega…"

He put a hand against the robot and sighed. Closing his eyes.

 _He just had to keep trying, he'd get it soon…_

But then, Tails ear twitched. He heard something. What was that? Running water?

He turned around and came face to face with none other than Chaos.

The God of Destruction slunk towards the fox ever so slowly. He loved scaring mortals in this way, making them shake in terror before he finally ended them.

But for Tails, this was too much. He couldn't fight. He hadn't saved Sonic, how could he possibly defend himself against Chaos?! Wait. Chaos.

This was Chaos 0. He fought against Chaos 4 and won. He shouldn't have been afraid of him. But still, he shuddered at the sight. Chaos and his friends still took out Sonic.

He tried to stand his ground. "Ch-Ch-Chaos! I-I won't let you hurt anyone else! Leave me and Omega alone!"

Chaos was a little surprised. Must've been one of those resistance members. But nothing they could handle.

He lunged out at the fox only for him to cower in fear.

Just as he was about to enclose the fox in a watery grave, he sensed something.

Chaos looked up and was surprised to see a puprle swirling vortex appear.

The ancient deity was flabbergasted by the appearance of the thing, but didn't expect what happened next.

Out of the portal, fell a new figure. It screamed as it landed right onto Chaos, knocking him all over the place.

When the water splashed onto Tails, he looked to see the figure. They were short pudgy and a very familiar shade of blue. It was a hedgehog. Could it be?

The hedgehog got up to his feet and shook himself off. "Now that was a rush! Okay, where am I?" **[1]**

"Sonic...? You're alive?!" Tails asked.

Sonic looked over to Tails, but didn't have much time when a fist made of water slammed into him and knocked him into a wall.

The hedgehog groaned and then looked up at what had hit him to see none other than Chaos preparing to take out Tails.

But he was quick to his feet. "No way I'm gonna let you put a hand on him, 'ya big drip!"

Chaos looked back at the hedgehog only to be homed into. He splattered again and quickly gathered himself.

Sonic was ready though, spindashing into him and scattering Chaos' parts again.

This one was proving a formidable foe. He knew he couldn't stay here. He'd get a chance at this one sometime later, it was time to retreat.

And so with that, chaos slunk back into the sewer.

"Aw come on, where 'ya goin?" Sonic shouted after it.

He shrugged and then zipped over to Tails. The fox was surprised when an arm had suddenly wrapped around his shoulder.

"Did 'ya see me, Tails? I told 'ya everything would be okay! Eggman and that heavy loser were no match for me!"

Tails looked at him confusedly. "What?"

"Sure, you don't remember…?" And that's when he got a look at his younger- or well older brother.

"Tails?"

And that's when Tails got a good look at the blue blur and saw that it also wasn't his Sonic. But… "You're the younger Sonic from the past, aren't you?"

Sonic shrugged. He didn't expect to see the older Tails again until well… Tails was that age. "Uh… yeah. I guess I am. Are we in a weird white limbo thing again?"

Tails shook his head. "No. This is our world. Or well… the future for you."

"Right… time travel. _Again…_ And here I thought that I was done with that sort of thing until well, I guess that happens to me again later."

"Guess not. Do you know how you got here?"

"Sure." Sonic shrugged. "But you probably remember that. I was super and uh… Eggman and his robot played hot potato with his Phantom Ruby thing and I guess it and the chaos emeralds opened up a portal and next thing I knew, I'm here."

Tails didn't remember anything like that, but this Sonic was looking at him expectantly. "That makes sense… I think?"

He shrugged. "'Ya got me, buddy."

"Well… everything happens for a reason right? We need to save the world, so maybe you're here to help save the world!"

Sonic promptly nodded.

"Either way, it's good to see you, Sonic. Heck, it's good to see any Sonic."

Sonic threw an arm around Tails. "Sonic and Tails, out on another adventure!"

Tails laughed. He hadn't done that in so long, but with Sonic or well… a Sonic here, it was at least he knew where he was headed.

And that's when a beep chimed next to them.

They looked towards the source of the noise and saw Omega rising to his feet with a grating screech.

"Omega, you're back!" Tails cheered.

" **I am E123-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e 4-5-6-12- red-black-finite-Ruby-y-y-y-y-y-y!"**

"Or not…" Sonic chuckled.

Omega steamed and sputtered for a moment before he finally stopped. He turned towards them and looked them in the eyes. " **Designation unknown. Alias required."**

"You are E123 Omega." Tails said.

" **E123 Omega registered."**

"Looks like your robot's busted." Sonic said as he watched Tails looking into his circuitry again.

"Actually, it's not mine. It's one of Eggman's."

"And you're helping it?"

"A lot has changed. Omega's one of our friends."

Sonic just looked confusedly at him. "The future's weird."

Tails finally closed the hatch and frowned. "Looks like his memory chip is fried. There's nothing that I can do from here."

"So… what then?"

"Maybe if I could get to my lab down in the mystic ruins but that's all the way down in Soumerica. We'd have to cross the entire continent for that. And well the Tornado I was using was destroyed with the resistance base."

"That's not a problem for us."

"Well…"

"Come on, Tails… 'ya all fancy in the future now and can't go for a good run?"

"What? No!"

"Then come on!"

Tails smiled. "Right. Omega, follow!"

The robot complied and followed after them and like that Sonic and Tails were off again, out on another adventure.

And so they were off through the war torn streets. Chaos didn't come back so the two of them just talked as they ran while Omega wordlessly followed along.

"So… what's up with the future. Why is this place so… wrecked?"

Tails sighed. "Eggman won."

"Eggman what?!"

"He won. I don't know how, he had this weird new weapon with him. This robot thing that was able to turn the world around. He has control of the everything now."

"Well, what about me?"

Tails looked away.

Sonic's smile fell. "Oh…"

"I'm sorry, Sonic. They ganged up on you and Eggman's new thing was just way too fast and-"

"Too fast? Nothing is ever too fast for me. What he do, catch me when I was warming up?"

He shook his head. "No, Sonic. This thing is faster than you. I don't know how but… it was."

"Well it better hope it doesn't run into me then. I'll show Eggman's tincan what happens when you mess with me."

Tails looked at him sadly.

Sonic's glare softened at that and was about to say something about it, but Omega spoke up. " **Incoming hostiles."**

Both of them looked to see a couple of Eggpongs coming in. They were at the edge of Ghost Town and approaching the Red Gate Bridge. Now however, a squadron of Eggpongs were about to get to them, there were five.

" **Destroy those blocking the path of our objective!"**

Omega then turned his arms into guns and fired at one of the robots, destroying it instantly.

"Wow!" Sonic gasped. "This guy packs a lotta heat. But two can play that game!"

With that, he jumped into the air and homed in on one of the robots, destroying it instantly.

One of the others tried to fire on him, to which he quickly rolled out of the way. Tails was quick to defeat it, swiping his namesakes at the machine.

Sonic was able to back it up with a spindash to another one of the robots while Omega finished it up by firing on another one of the robots.

"Too fast, too quick." Sonic smirked, dusting off his hands. "Eggman's getting bored if this is what his robots look like these days. No creativity."

Tails laughed. "Y'know, I was thinking the same thing."

Sonic offered his brother a high five that he gladly returned.

The hedgehog then turned to the robot and added, "And you too, tincan! Nice moves you got there. Come on, top shelf!"

The robot stared blankly at him.

Tails chuckled. "You're gonna have to forgive Omega. He's not himself. Even then he doesn't really understand everything we do."

Sonic shrugged and instead gave him a pat on the back. "Well, good job buddy."

They continued walking and very quickly found themselves in the main town, making idle chit chat while Omega followed along. It mostly had to do with Tails asking random questions about both Eggman's domination and ust general future stuff.

"So you're telling me that I get a hoverboard that's so co-ooooooooooooool..." Sonic trailed off.

His eyes were now on the massive Death Egg Robots that were making waste to the town. There were so many of them. Sure, the other part of town had been destroyed. But this? This was too many of them and they were so big! Far larger than any of them he had taken on.

"Look at all these Death Egg Robots!"

"Yeah… Eggman brought them in a few months ago. They already took out the part of the city we were just in and I guess they moved on."

"That's terrible! We gotta do something!"

"Well what do you wanna do? There's no way we can take so many of them on."

"There's always a way, Tails. If there's anything I taught you that I thought you would remember, I hoped it would at least be that."

Tails frowned, but Sonic put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"I have a plan."

 **~Sonic Forces~**

" **All Eggman robots must be destroyed!"** Omega announced as he fired at one of the Death Egg Robots.

The bullets flew off of the Metal shell as if it were nothing, but got the attention of the massive robot, to which the robot fled. It was odd seeing Omega run and not be himself, but nothing they could do at the moment.

The robot threw a fist down at where Omega was, an empty street that was out of the way and that's when Sonic and Tails appeared, climbing up the arm of the robot.

Once they reached the top, they ran around the top before they reached it single eye.

"Alright! Here it comes!" Sonic shouted getting ready to spindash into the lense.

But it started to glow to which the hedgehog's eyes widened.

"MOVE!" Tails shouted as he grabbed him by the arms and jumped off of the thing, flying into the air.

The laser fired into the air and missed them.

Sonic looked up at his friend and smiled. "Knew I could always count on you, buddy!"

Tails grinned and then looked down on the Death Egg Robot. He took on a mischevious grin and smiled at his friend. "How about a little boost, Sonic?"

"Let's roll, Tails!"

And with that, the fox spun around in the air, before he threw the hedgehog at the Death Egg Robot. He curled into a ball and a familiar blue aura surrounded him.

He smashed through the eye and the rest of the body causing the thing to freeze.

He landed on the ground on both feet with his hands up in the air and eyes closed.

"And that's how it's done." He said as he took a bow and the Death Egg Robot exploded behind him.

"Come on Tails! Let's take on another!"

Tails agreed and Omega… well, Omega didn't really have a say, he just did whatever someone told him.

The next one they took on, they took by running around and around it in circles causing it to spin around and around in an attempt to smush them, but to no avail. Soon it had done it so much, the the top of the robot spun right off.

They continued on this path and by the time the day was done they had taken four Death Egg Robots.

Unfortunately for them, that was only a fraction of the army and they were getting tired. Tails opted that they retreat to the Red Gate Bridge and head towards Green Hill.

Now they sat on the bridge looking out at the eternal twilight of Sunset Heights. It was gorgeous as the orange sun blended with the water out there.

Rusted metal shone in the light, tails lightly swayed back and forth and feet were lazily kicking over the edge.

"We may not have saved the whole town, but taking out those Death Egg Robots were bound to help out." Tails smiled.

Sonic nodded. "For sure."

"Thanks Sonic."

"For what?"

"Just for being here. I know it was an accident, but if you didn't show up, I don't know what I would've done."

Sonic nodded. "I'd always do anything for you, older or younger or whatever. You know that."

Tails smiled and nodded. "I know and I'd do the same for you."

They sat there looking out at the Sunset for a little while longer before Sonic finally spoke up again.

"Do you remember times like these, Tails?"

The fox looked at him.

"Y'know, wherever we ended up for a night we'd always just sit together and just appreciate the view? Well, I guess I still do that in my time. But like, now that you guys have nice cushy homes and everything. Do you remember how we'd just look out at the sunset and the stars and everything and just enjoy the view?"

"Of course. You always used to tell me everything would be okay no matter what."

"Did you still do that with me before…?"

"Not a lot." Tails admitted. "You're always running around, going wherever your feet take you. But sometimes, when we're out adventuring or even back to my workshop, you always ask me to come over and look out there with you."

Sonic smiled. "Well, buddy. Remember that as long as you're looking out there, there's always gonna be a way. We'll beat Eggman like we always do and you'll see that nothing's impossible."

Tails smiled. Together, the brothers, separated by fate, time and space looked out at the sunset. Tails wasn't sure how exactly but with the other Sonic here, they were gonna win this war.

 **[1] Chill. Unlike Sega, I have a plan for Classic Sonic.**

 **So this is the first chapter that I am really, truly am proud of. The others I'm somewhat mixed on, but this one? 'Ey, now that's what I'm talkin' about. I know what changes I'm gonna make and you'll find that out in the next chapter when we return to the others. Next chapter is gonna be a ton of fun, but is likely gonna be a long one because we've got a heck of a lot of ground to cover in that one. It's gonna be a lot of fun and more than you expect.**

 **But as for Classic Sonic, I just wanna bring up something. For one, I love the track "It's Good to See a Sonic" because I love that orchestral Mania theme. It's awesome and I love it. If I were in charge of Forces, I would've made that Classic Sonic's motif for the game. It would really make it feel like it's a direct continuation to his adventures in Mania. Mix it in with a little I Wanna Fly High and bam, we have the music for Tails and Classic Sonic's adventure. But that's just me.**

 **Anyways, that'll do for this chapter Hope you enjoyed. R &R**


	5. Chapter 4: Jailbreak- Part 1

**And we're back again for another chapter. We're gonna be going to the Death Egg. Something you should know first is that after some thought, I decided to nerf Wispons and am gonna limit their attacks in different ways because they're just way too powerful to write good fight scenes with. Which is why. As for why it's been a month? Uh... check the end A/N. But with that, let's get started. But first, review replies:**

 **Mr. Meme:  
You were noticed! I'm glad you enjoyed it. And yeah, I am going for a Jaleel voice.**

 **bajy:  
Thank you!**

 **Alexandria Prime:  
Oh yes, plans for Classic and Omega.**

 **MrMrMANGOMILK:  
Personally going for a Jaleel voice, but considering the timeline, Ryan's voice works too.  
If it's because of the big drip voice, then I'll say that was both a reference and also because I figured, this is still a young Sonic, so he'd probably call Chaos 0 the same name.**

 **SpiderDom321:  
Thank you! I'm glad you like them.  
Bonding is an important part of Tails and Classic Sonic. I wanna be sure that Tails actually has reason to care about Classic Sonic.  
Haha, I'm glad you liked and were able to picture that scene.  
I'm glad you enjoy it so much.  
And you mean… the Chaos Emeralds? I'm going to assume you mean the Chaos Emeralds because I've got them right here! **_**Pulls out emerald only to hide it again.**_ **The Chaos Emeralds will have a role in this story, but I just wonder what it is… hm…  
Thanks so much, hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the ones before it!**

 **Sonic Forces**

 **Chapter 4:**

 **Jailbreak Part 1**

Celeste should've known that she was going to die in a place with the word death in the title. Still? Being surrounded by a bunch of robots was not the way she had planned to go.

But with the robots having their blasters trained on her, she prayed that this would be quick.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

 **SOMETIME EARLIER**

Eggman smiled to himself as Chaos entered the room, the meeting was about to start and now all that was missing was his newest toy.

He loved everything that was happening. The world was his! All of it! This time he had actually done it. The past few months had been incredible!

Sure, there was the resistance but it wasn't like they could do anything at this point? He just toyed with them. They weren't going to defeat him, he ruled the world!

Shadow was the one that spoke up. "When's your friend getting here, Doctor?"

"He should be here shortly."

Zavok rolled his eyes. "For someone that orchestrated the destruction of this world, he's taking his time."

Eggman glared at him. " _I_ orchestrated the destruction of this world. All of you are pawns I've strung along for the ride and don't you forget it."

Metal beeped in agreement.

"Really now? Then perhaps I should tell the little miscreant of your true feelings."

"He knows what he is."

"Then you shouldn't have a problem with me telling him."

Eggman glared at Zavok who just glared back. The two were in a stalemate for a moment.

Eggman snapped his fingers. "Chaos and Metal, help me glare at Zavok."

Metal snapped to attention and immediately glared at the demon.

Chaos on the other hand looked confusedly at the two.

Shadow groaned and face palmed. "Enough of the chatter! What have you called us here for, Doctor?"

Eggman sighed, slinking back into his chair. "I suppose we'll have to start without him. Please, take a seat, gentlemen."

The four sat around him in a conference table.

"Sonic."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Tsk. What about him?"

"He's been rotting away in his cell for too long. We already made an example to the world of defeating him, but that resistance keeps defying us at every turn."

"What does that have to do with him?"

"That resistance continues to have hope. They continue to gain members by the day. But if we were to show the world that he's gone then..."

Zavok grinned. "You're finally going to dispose of him! I would've done it ages ago."

"And yet you didn't."

"Because you wouldn't let me!"

"And I still think we should wait." Shadow argued.

All of them raised an eyebrow at turned to look at the ulttimate life form.

"Destroying Sonic at this point would only make the people rally even further. You'd have more of a problem than you already do on your hands."

"Besides… I like torturing the faker."

"NO! That fool needs to be destroyed!" Zavok slammed his hands on the table. "Do not listen to this fool. We need to rid ourselves of the hedgehog now!"

"And we will." Eggman stated. "I'll plan an execution. The world should see their Emperor and his generals before we get rid of him for good."

"I should deliver the finishing blow." Zavok insisted.

"We'll decide on the details when our friend gets here. I'll give him a call."

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The ship landed in the hangar of the Death Egg without raising any attention.

"Alright, who's going out first?" Knuckles asked them.

The group looked surprised at him. "Commander?"

"What? I'm not going out there first, it's the Death Egg. I'm surprised we weren't shot out of the sky when we came."

"Aren't you supposed to be our fearless leader?" Celeste asked.

"I'm fearless but I'm not stupid."

Rouge chuckled. "Poor little Knuckie shaking in his boots over a couple of Eggman's toys."

"What, that's not-"

"I'll go first." Rouge said brushing past him and opening the door.

"Hey, wait up!" Knuckles called out as he followed after her.

They came out of the ship only to find an empty hangar. Nothing was there.

"Huh, we're not dead."

"I would hope so, I took great care to make sure that everything would be okay."

"Ri-right. Sorry."

Rouge smiled and patted him on the back before walking away towards the door.

The others walked over with Knuckles.

"Based on the schematics of the Death Egg, we should have some time before we get there. Amy, what's our route looking like?"

"You guys will have to sneak through a couple of halls before you get to the prison at the center of the facility. Don't worry, I'll guide you."

"Alright everybody, let's go." Knuckles said, waving them through the mechanical door.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The masked one surged towards the Chaotix, surrounded in that red energy.

Each of them were quick to dodge, diving in different directions.

Espio landed in a crouch and chucked a kunai at him, but the jackal fired a beam of light that disintegrated the throwing knife into nothing.

He fired again, this time at the Chameleon, hitting him square in the chest and knocking him back.

"Hey, you're not hurtin' my buddy like that and gettin' away with it!" Vector shouted. With that, he fired off a music note at the jackal which he simply redirected into Charmy with the simple wave of a hand. **[1]**

Charmy cried out as he was knocked into a wall.

Vector growled at this. Projectiles weren't going to work, so he tried the more direct approach. With a yell, he reared back his fist and ran at the masked being.

When the crocodile was upon him, he simply chuckled and in that moment, he disappeared from sight and in his place appeared Espio.

Vector gasped and pulled his fist back, but that didn't stop his momentum as he stumbled into Espio.

"Pathetic." The being rolled his eyes.

But that was when he heard a shrill yell come from behind him.

He turned around only to come face to face with a massive stinger that struck him in the stomach just below the gem.

"I got him, guys!" Charmy cheered.

The two just got out of their entanglement and groaned only to shout at their friend to get away.

Charmy didn't really bother to guess where but quickly flew towards them just for a laser to barely miss him.

The creature rose into the air above them. "You lot are putting up far more of a fight than I'd have imagined. It's been some time since I've been given a proper challenge. The rest of your ranks go down far too easily."

The three glared at him at that statement, how easily he talked of the resistance members that had either been slaugthered or imprisoned by him was unacceptable.

"We fight for our friends and refuse to let any of them be hurt by the likes of you again." Espio snapped.

"And you're not leaving here until we're through with you!" Espio added.

"The Chaotix are gonna make hotdogs out of you!" Charmy declared.

The three of them gave him looks of confusion at that, even Infinite.

"Y'know, cuz he's a jackal and jackals are dog and well hotdogs cuz we're gonna destroy him and like eat him and…"

Infinite just rolled his eyes. "Enough of this foolishness. You can't possibly expect to defeat me."

"We know we will. Come on boys!" Vector shouted.

They charged towards him, each preparing their own attacks to which he flew at them, leaving a red trail in his wake.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The small team of resistance fighters had been sneaking down the halls of the Death Egg for a while, making sure to stay away from anything that might cause them trouble. Amy had been their guide, reading the schematics of the Death Egg from their base.

All of them had their guard up and were keeping their guard up, they were safe for now, but that could change at any moment in one of Eggman's most guarded places.

Celeste especially was shaking like a leaf, jumping at the sight of anything that could possibly come their way. Even Gadget was less frightened than her and had to often tell her to calm down.

"This next room should be empty, pass through it and you'll be getting close to the prison soon."

"Thanks, Amy." Knuckles nodded.

They stepped into the room to find themselves in a dome of sorts. A single square platform was suspended in the air by a few pathways that lead into doors that lead all kinds of different directions. But above was a glass ceiling that gave them view of the stars and a bit of their great planet Mobius.

A lot of them couldn't help but gasp at the sight, Silver included.

"I just got a great idea for an album cover guys." Rhythm couldn't help but blurt out.

Knuckles and Rouge on the other hand continued on, having seen all of it before. It wasn't their first time in space and something told Celeste that it wouldn't be their last. But still, the sight of all of it was enough to leave them all stunned.

So stunned that they all nearly jumped out of their skin when the alarms started blaring.

"Shoot!" Knuckles barked as robots began to rise up all around them on several platforms. Sleek, metallic versions of the Egg Pongs were there along with several buzzer bombers.

"Looks like we've got company." Rouge mused as she flew to one of the Buzzer Bombers and gave it a swift kick to the face, turning it to scrap metal.

"Everyone stick together!" Silver shouted. "We may have been discovered but let's show them what happens when you mess with the resistance!"

And with that they attacked.

Gadget had managed to use his burst wispon on them, he dove out of sight of several lasers but was able to fire bursts of flames at them that were able to decimate the robots.

Knuckles decided to use his namesakes to show them what he was made of, using them to punch through the opposition and proving that he was rougher than the rest of them.

Fierro's weapon was very limited and needed to recharge at times. So she found herself punching and kicking several of the robots. She didn't see the need to unleash a black hole just yet.

Rouge did the same, although she was in the air, chasing after a lot of the Buzzer Bombers and actually had quite a bit of fun doing it. She couldn't help but laugh when they broke apart by her hand. Knuckles couldn't help but notice and wonder when she started to enjoy fighting robots so much but chalked it up to Shadow and Omega rubbing off on her.

Corvin was having a blast, opting to take out his gear and distract some of the Buzzer Bombers himself. They fired on him as he whizzed around, but he did tricks to dodge their shots and sent lots of quips their way before ramming into them with his drill wispon or guiding them into walls.

Silver lifted robots using his telekinetic abilities and either chucked them off the edge of the platform, slammed them into walls and sometimes each other.

Rhythm had fun freezing robots into blocks and crushing them with her hammer.

As for Celeste, she was having fun of her own as well, she found great use with her lightning wispon. With the flick of a wrist, she was able to send the short trail of lighting into the robots and break them apart. It was fun.

Parts went flying as the resistance continued to wreak havoc in the base as the alarms continued to blare.

The fight was on.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

"Why shouldn't we throw him out into space?" Eggman groaned. "It would be the perfect occasion live on television."

"The best way to take care of our problem would be a live execution." Zavok insisted. "Let me do it and strike fear into the hearts of them all."

Shadow pinched his nose as the two continued to go at it.

"Banishment!"

"Execution!"

"Banishment!"

"Execution!"

"Banishment!"

"Execution!"

"Banishment!"

"BE QUIET!"

Bot of them looked at Shadow again.

Zavok narrowed his eyes at him. "You dare to raise your voice at me-"

Suddenly the alarm started going off around them, cutting off the Zeti and making them all look up and around in confusion.

"What's going on?" Zavok asked.

"The alarm went off. We have a breach in security!"

With that, the door slid open and in rushed Orbot and Cubot, the former of which was carrying an electronic clipboard. "Boss! Boss!"

"Nincombots! What's going on?"

"You need to check the main feed right now!" Cubot shouted.

They frantically handed Eggman the clipboard only for his eyes to widen in surprise. "What? They're here in the Death Egg now?!"

"What's wrong, Doctor?"

"The resistance is here and I need to make a call right away!"

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The Chaotix all lunged at the jackal only for him to fire lasers from his hands at Vector and Charmy.

He was ready to get one for Espio, but the Chameleon was too quick, knocking him out of the sky.

With him pinned down, Espio was quick to produce a knife ready to plunge into the beast. It looked up at the chameleon's face and saw the knife in hand.

Underneath the mask, he furrowed his brow and with a yell he let out a wave of energy that knocked the chameleon into a pile of snow.

"Espio!" The two other Chaotix cried out.

The two glared at the monster and ran to him, Espio with a bubblegum blast, and Charmy with his stinger out.

He approached Charmy and rammed him from the side before quickly spinning around to Vector and fired a laser at the bubble. It popped covering the crocodile in the sticky stuff.

Vector blinked and tried to get it off of him.

Espio and Charmy were quick to meet him and help pry the stuff off of him.

"Well, I had no idea this is what you meant by a team sticking together." He mused. "But I can't say I am too fond of this technique."

They finally got him free and stared down the thing.

"We'll show you what a team can really do." Vector stated.

Espio held his hands out. "Chaotix together!"

"Yeah!" Charmy cheered.

They were just about ready to charge him again, the battle was about to continue and it was going to be fierce.

Except, that wasn't going to happen as edgy music started playing from his helmet.

"Uh… what is that?" Charmy asked.

The monster just facepalmed.

"Music and lemme tell you, this is not a jam." Vector added.

Espio shrugged. "I dunno, I kind of like it."

 _I am the tallest of mountains,_

 _I am the roughest of waves,_

 _I am the toughest of terrors,_

 _I am the darkest of days_

The edgy emo smack rap just kept going and going and the Chaotix stared at him.

The beast just sighed. "One moment, please."

With a wave of his hand, crackling red electricity appeared around the Chaotix and froze them in place. With that, the beast clicked the side of his mask and the music stopped.

"What do you want?!"

"There you are! Do you have any idea how long we've been waiting for you!" Eggman screeched on the other end of the line.

"I have been preoccupied with some of the resistance fighters. What did you call them? The Chaotix? They have proven to be far more of a challenge than you had let on."

"The rabble never cease to surprise." Eggman mused. But then returned to his serious tone. "I need you on the Death Egg now. The resistance is here and we need to get rid of them."

He growled and looked between himself and the Chaotix.

He wasn't one to leave a fight. He didn't want too. Eggman continued to keep talking but he just ignored him. He needed to finish this fight.

"I will return, Doctor."

"Good, we'll meet yo-"

"After I am through with these three."

With that, he hung up and unfroze the Chaotix only for the three of them to lunge at him and knock him into the snow.

He looked up at them and smirked underneath the mask.

 _Time for fun._

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Eggman growled. "He's not coming."

Shadow couldn't help but chuckle. "Seems like our friend has another agenda."

"We have no options then. We'll have to handle it ourselves!"

He then turned to the monitors and looked down on them.

"We can't allow them to get to the prison, if they do, then they might find him."

He turned to them. "We're launching a counterattack! Metal Sonic. You're going in there now to catch them off guard. But whatever you do do not engage."

Metal Sonic nodded and flew out of the room.

"Chaos will drown them out, make sure that they won't be able to make it out of there alive."

Chaos gurgled and left as well.

"Shadow, I want you to be on standby. Should Sonic escape, we'll need someone to chase him down immediately. We can't allow him to get out of our clutches!"

Shadow huffed and leaned against the wall. He took that as confirmation enough.

"And Zavok, I want you to-"

Shadow chuckled. "Bad news, doctor."

Eggman turned to see only Shadow there. Zavok had disappeared.

The doctor's eyes widened in surprise, only for that surprise to turn to blistering furry.

" _ **Where…. is… Zavok?!**_ " The Doctor let out an almost primal growl that shocked the ultimate life form.

Deep within the prison, the leader of the Deadly Six approached a prison cell, its occupant: The fastest thing alive.

 _ **Dun-a-na-na-na-naaaaaa-na-na-na-BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM-DUM!**_

 _ **That short Deadly Six riff intensifies.**_

 **[1] I decided that since Vector's shtick is music too that I'd give him the music notes from that horrid Generations mission as an attack as well.**

 **I'm gonna end this chapter here. It was originally gonna move onto other stuff, but I realized that holy cow. It's nearly been a month and that's not fair to you guys. So that'll do for this chapter. Expect the next one relatively soon (a weekish? Two?) since I've already made a ton of headway on that. Don't worry, I considered originally ending this chapter here anyway, but then thought "Nah, I can make it." only to realize a bit into writing the next one, "Holy crap, it's been a week." So that'll do for this chapter.**

 **Read and review.**


	6. Chapter 5: Jailbreak- Part 2

**And we're back for the next chapter of Sonic Forces. While I would've preferred to keep this chapter long, I figured that I'd split it since you guys have been waiting so long. But now, I'm here for the next one which is actually the last one and lol. Let's just go. But first, review replies:**

 **Infinite's Ruby: Thank you!**

 **Bajy: And crazier they're about to get.**

 **SpiderDom321: Haha. I'm so glad you liked it.  
The characterisation is a key element to this story for both heroes and villains. I wanna make sure that we see into the Eggman Empire and because of that you'll be seeing quite a bit of Eggman and crew.  
Yeah, I don't know how obvious it was. But it was clear I was fumbling with trying to write them in chapter two so I nerfed them.  
Haha, thank you. First, let's save the world. Then we can see what we can do about that album.  
I'm glad I'm pulling it off well. The key is to go for that grey area with this story. It's gonna have its serious moments where you're gonna need to buckle up but it's also gonna have a lot of lighthearted fun.  
Oh yes, The Chaos Emeralds.**

 **ExMarkSpot: So glad you like it!**

 **DANGIT-Man: Can confirm all the generals of the empire will have boss fights in this story. There's one coming up in a few chapters that I am so unbelievably hype for.**

 **Alexandria Prime: Haha, thank you!**

 **MrMrMANGOMILK: Idk, man. Do you think they're the real ones? I do have a plan is all I'll say.  
Haha, good point. Thanks for the advice.**

 **Mr. Meme: Thanks so much!**

 **Milky-Wayne: First of all, love the username. Haha. I don't think he did. And ah yes, Zavok. He'll be having fun in this chapter.**

 **Sonic Forces  
Chapter 5:**

 **Jailbreak Part 2**

The resistance was making quick work of the robots and the room was almost cleared out as parts continued to go flying.

"Let's wrap this up, team! We need to move forward and get to the prison now!" Knuckles shouted.

"You heard the boss!" Fierro agreed as she pulled out her wispon. "Silver, can you give me a little help?"

"On it!"

The hedgehog said. With that he glowed with his green aura as it surged all over the room, pulling all of the bots in the room together into a ball.

Fierro then pulled out her charged Void Wispon and fired a ball of energy at the robots.

The effect was almost instantaneous, all of the robots got sucked into the void until there was absolutely nothing left. The power on those things was ridiculous and Celeste couldn't help but want one for herself.

But still, all the robots were gone and the resistance were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Knuckles turned to them and smiled. "Okay, now that that's done, we've gotta head to the prison."

"They're bound to be on high alert now, so we better hurry." Rouge added.

"Where to then?" Silver asked Amy.

"Not important right now. Incoming hostile at the four o'clock corridor."

Before they could even react, a loud whoosh could be heard at that moment.

Everybody's blood went cold at that, especially Knuckles' and Rouge's. With all the adventures they'd been on there had been some pretty great sights, sure. But there was also some pretty great danger.

So when they heard that noise, they only had to give one fearful glance at one another before Knuckles reacted.

"EVERYONE DOWN, NOW!"

They didn't really have time to argue when they dove at his command. And it was a good thing too because at that very moment, in came the original Metallic Madman: Metal Sonic.

"Captain Rose, confirmed sighting of Metal Sonic on the Death Egg!" One of the random soldiers shouted into their com.

From the other end, Amy let out a sharp shriek. The once calm and collected tactical operator of the resistance was now left in a frenzied mess at the very mention of the robot's name. "Metal Sonic?! You all need to abort mission now!"

She knew the full extent of what that thing could do. She'd been in its clutches herself. Before the war, Metal had been branded one of the most dangerous beings on the planet, and it was a machine! But now, being one of the generals of Eggman's army and having taken so many lives, there was no question in her mind.

Metal didn't take prisoners. Zavok did. Shadow did. Chaos did when he was told. Even that creep that was fighting the Chaotix did. But Metal Sonic? They were goners.

But Knuckles didn't feel the same way. "Do not abort!" Knuckles shouted.

"Knuckles no!"

"Metal isn't doing anything. We've got like 20 of us here, we can take him!"

And he was right. Metal Sonic was just floating in the sky and staring at them. He didn't do anything.

"Come on guys, it's nothing. With our strength we can end Metal once and for all!"

"No, Knuckles! If Metal isn't doing anything then that means… it's a trap."

Suddenly another blip appeared on the map and was approaching fast. "ANOTHER HOSTILE INCOMING! YOU GUYS NEED TO GET OUT OF THERE!"

But it was too late. This time, it was Chaos who appeared before them.

In a single moment, the monster flooded the room, dividing the resistance and sending them down different hallways before shutting the doors and leaving them to fend for themselves.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Celeste wasn't sure where exactly she had ended up but she knew that she was alone. The other resistance members had been pushed by the waves and were separated from each other. She didn't see anybody. On the one hand she was thankful because anybody included both Metal Sonic and Chaos. But on the other hand, none of her friends in the resistance. No Knuckles, no Rouge, no Betas…

But she did have her com and at least with Amy's guidance she could at least rendezvous with the others.

So she turned it on.

Immediately, she was met with the loud chatter of the resistance on the other end. And it was loud.

Most of them were scared and she could pick out Gadget's frantic voice, Knuckles was trying his best to give out commands and that ended up warranting a lot of yelling from the echidna and Amy was the one trying her best to keep everything down.

So much was going on and Celeste was kinda taken aback by it all, with all the shouting.

Finally, it was Amy who had had enough.

"BE QUIET!" She shouted.

And with that everybody shut up.

"Good! Now. It's clear that things have been going south here so that means we're going to have to make our exit in a calm and orderly manner, do we understand?"

"Amy, the prisoners!" Knuckles retorted.

" _We'll come back for them."_

Knuckles growled on the other end, while Amy took charge. "Now seeing as Celeste was one of the few to be calm about it, I'll guide her out of here first. Honey, can you hear me?"

"L-loud and clear, Amy."

"Good. From where I see you located on the map, it looks like you're gonna have to take quite a long run. There's a path that'll take you on a downward spiral. You're gonna have to go there. It looks like you're actually the only one who passes by the prison. But don't do anything unless I tell you to."

"R-right."

And with that, she took off down the hall and sure enough she did find the downward spiral entirely made of a glass like material that she had sprinted down. It was long, and kind of ridiculous, but she continued on. But at the very least on her way down, she didn't encounter any enemies.

It wasn't long before she made her way into another room, this one much larger than the last that had an actual stairwell leading down the facility.

It didn't creep her out that this room was much darker than the one before or the fact there were these metallic machines mounted on the walls that seemed to follow her, she just followed Amy's directions. Escape was her biggest concern right now, so she ignored the creepy stuff.

Amy's com chimed to life. "It looks like you're in the main prison now, Celeste."

She looked around, confusedly. "Really, this place? It's so empty?"

"Empty?!" Everyone shouted back at her.

"Rouge, what the heck?!" Knuckles shouted.

"I don't understand either, the prison is clearly meant to be at that part of the Death Egg. Amy, are you sure that she's in the right place?"

"Where I read her, it shows that she's right where the schematics label the prison."

"So what then?" Knuckles asked.

Fierro was the one to chim in this time. "Captain, I think the prisoners were moved then. If they really aren't where they're supposed to be then that'll mean that Eggman took them somewhere else."

"Of all the dirty tricks!" Knuckles growled.

"Still believe we should save them, Knuckles? We don't even know where they are now."

He sighed. "We need to get out. Find a new way to save the prisoners and figure out where they are soon."

"Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me." Rouge mused.

Celeste had been walking down the halls jumping onto platforms and making her way out of the prison. To see things so empty was people could be anywhere. Who knows what Eggman did with them? They had all come so far and the fact that her first mission turned out to be a bust saddened her more.

Of course, Prison Hall wouldn't be empty for long. She heard the metal thud behind her.

She gulped and hoped to Gaia that it was just her imagination, since Chaos wasn't really doing wonders for her or the world lately. So slowly and shakily she turned around to see five Egg Pawns approaching her. Just her luck.

Still, she took out her wispon and got to work.

With a flick of a wrist, the wispon flickered to life and she took out the head of the pack.

The others the pointed their blaster arms and fired on her and she let out a yelp as she dove under the fire, her wispon falling to the floor.

She sloppily crawled on all fours and scooped up her weapon before finally rising to her feet, clumsily scampering about. She whipped out again, this time taking out two of the robots and leaving two remaining.

She jumped up over another blast and swung down on another one of them.

She then landed in a crouch and let the whip fly again and destroying the last of them.

She smiled. She defeated the robots no problem. All by herself.

And then the alarm went off. She frowned and threw her hands over her ears. But continued onward. She couldn't stay in one place, she had to keep moving.

"Looks like they're on high alert now." Rouge mused.

Corvin's voice came out next. "You mean, Chaos and Metal wasn't them being on high alert?"

As she rounded a corner and entered a new hallway, she couldn't help but think how the bird took the words right out of her mouth.

The new path was long and had pitfalls every so often. These odd robots flew after here, firing lasers at her. She dodged and weaved and quickly made her way down the corridor.

"You're almost there!" Amy announced. "You're doing great, Celeste!"

"Thanks!" She grinned as she continued down.

But then, something unthinkable happened.

One of the robots appeared behind her and fired a laser blast that struck her back, knocking her to the floor.

She groaned and tried to reach for her wispon only for the robot to fire at it and knock it so far away that she couldn't possibly reach it.

She turned around and leaned against the guard rail so that she could see her attackers. There stood four sleek and silver Egg Pawns that stared her down, prepared to end her.

Celeste should've known that she was going to die in a place with the word death in the title. Still? Being surrounded by a bunch of robots was not the way she had planned to go.

But with the robots having their blasters trained on her, she prayed that this would be quick.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The prisoners of the Eggman Empire spent day in and day out sitting in their cells and doing a lot of nothing. They'd usually sit and talk between the walls for the most part except for when Emperor or his generals stopped for a visit.

The prison was a long towering cylinder that had rows upon rows of cells going up and up and up farther than the eyes could see, each with a bright blue force field to keep anyone from escaping.

Near, the top of the prison, where the lucky few could see the Mobius and the half moon above, a human named Joseph leaned against the metal and looked to the planet that he had called home. Being a prisoner of the Eggman Empire had been the worst experience of his life. But he was proud to have fought for both GUN and later the resistance before ending up in here.

He looked back home and wondered how things were going. The very little information they had at least told them that the resistance was still around at the very least. But the question was how well they were doing. No one knew for sure and it was awful.

He sighed. He'd spent enough time thinking about it and just needed some rest. Nothing better to do than to think, talk and sleep around here anyway. So he lie on the metal bench and closed his eyes.

 _TWISH_

The sound of an electronic door opening caused his eyes to snap open and look outside his cell.

Passing into his field of vision was Zavok. Judging by how fast he was going, he was on a mission.

But of course, he didn't let his presence go unknown.

"Big Z!" He shouted out.

The Zeti stopped and glared at him for a moment. Piercing yellow eyes met calm blue ones. The human simply shrugged at him as more prisoners began to echo him. "Big Z! Big Z! Big Z!"

They would shout.

Zavok scowled at him and gave an _I'm watching you_ gesture with his fingers before he continued along with his hurried pace.

He arrived at the prison cell he was looking for.

There sat a blue hedgehog, cuffed at the hands and feet despite being behind the forcefield of the cell. Of course, it was Sonic.

And with everything ready to fall down out here on the Death Egg, Zavok knew he was needed to do what the others were too foolish to do. He had to before it was too late.

So, with a click of a button on the control panel, the field on the cell dropped and in stepped the Zeti.

"This is the end, Sonic."

Sonic looked up from the floor and raised an eyeridge at the Zeti. "So you and your pals are finally gonna finish what you started?"

"I alone will be the one to do what the others are too weak to accomplish. They are blinded by their fixation on you, but I know the truth."

With a click of a button, the glowing cuffs on Sonic's wrists and ankles vanished.

Sonic widened his eyes in shock, but still took the opportunity to stretch his arms and legs. "Got a pretty funny way of doing it. Don't you just wanna beat me up like you did back in Sunset?"

"While beating you merciless would be amusing, I would take much more satisfaction in defeating you personally in front of your fellow inmates."

With a dash, he whisked past Zavok. "The only beating coming from anyone here is the one I'm about to deliver to you. I've got six months of payback that I'm just dying to pay off."

Like a rampaging bull, the Zeti tried to charge Sonic only for the hedgehog to dodge to the side.

"Too slow, buddy!"

He then went chasing after him.

They landed on a platform in the center of the prison. All eyes were on them as they were shocked to see Sonic out of his cell.

"Looks like you've got the audience you asked for. Too bad this won't end how you think it will."

"We will see about that. Death Queen to me!" **[1]**

With that, the Zeti jumped high into the sky and seemingly vanished.

Sonic looked confusedly for a moment, only for a massive sound to bombard the room. It was extremely loud, like the sound of a gigantic fan thrumming against his ears.

But he was quick to find out when a massive Buzzer Bomber three times Zavok's size came fluttering down to him. Atop it was the Zeti in question, which slammed his fists together and let out a mighty, monster roar that scared some of the prisoners.

But not Sonic. He stared down the Zeti. The one that had told him of his victories across the globe, the lives he'd taken and the fact that thanks to his failure he wasn't able to save them. But Sonic wasn't going to fail today. He was going to fight Zavok and he was going to win.

"I can't wait to see how long you last against this." Zavok snarled.

"All that talk of taking me down up close and personal and you choose a mech? Heh, what a hypocrite."

"Impudent runt! I'm going to savor watching you suffer!"

With that, the Zeti summoned a hoard of smaller Buzzer Bombers that swarmed the blue blur.

He took them head on, homing into each and every one of them and making it quick. It was just like old times, weaving in between blasts and turning badniks to scrap. It was fun.

When he was done, he landed back on the platform to which the Zeti growled and fired a fiery red laser at him. But it was nothing for the fastest thing alive. He zipped around the platform, not letting it touch him at all until Zavok finally got fed up with firing lasers and went for a new approach.

He ushered the Death Queen to rise high above the arena.

He looked up too only to see them come down hard, with their stinger aimed right at him.

Sonic was quick to dive as the massive Badnik came down onto the platform.

When he got up he saw Zavok grunting as he tried to will the Buzzer Bomber off the platform but it was stuck.

He took that as his chance and jumped up into the air, homing into the Zeti.

Once, twice and again!

The prisoners cheered each time he hit, while Zavok only got angrier and angrier.

Finally, the Death Queen was free and flew back up into the air.

He growled. "You're not making this easy, are you?"

Sonic just shook his head. "After all this time, I'm surprised you'd think less of me!"

"No matter, crushing you will be all the more satisfying."

"KICK HIS BUTT SONIC!" Joseph shouted to which the other prisoners agreed, shouting their own encouragements to the hedgehog.

"SILENCE ALL OF YOU!" Zavok shouted. "You'll see what happens to pests like you when I'm through with him!"

"We'll see about that!" Sonic announced.

With that, more of the Buzzer Bombers were summoned to try and to get at him again, but he was ready. He homed into each and every one of them without a problem.

When he landed back on the ground he smirked only to go wide eyed to see Zavok on the massive bee on the edge of the platform. Like a rampaging bull, the Death Queen came charging towards the hedgehog, stinger first.

For a brief moment, he was like a deer in the headlights, but was brought back to reality by the shouting of the prisoners. He dove out of the way, just narrowly avoiding being pierced by the great stinger.

Sonic then looked to Zavok as he came charging again, and dove away again.

But the third time he came on, he tried something crazy. He decided to home in on him again. Once, twice, three times all over again.

The Bee was still moving while he did so making it harder for Zavok to keep balance and with the Hedgehog homing in on him, he fell off.

The Death Queen was left to crash into the wall and shatter into a million pieces.

The prisoner's hooted and hollered at that to which the Zeti steamed. He then glared at Sonic and roared once again, before charging at him once again.

"Torro! Torro!" Sonic beamed at the Zeti.

Zavok was upon him, only for Sonic to jump over him, going as far as to use his head as a spring board and land on the other side of the arena. "Ole!"

There was a lot more cheering at that move.

Zavok veered around at that, facing the hedgehog and charging him again.

They did the same dance a few more times, with Sonic dodging the Zeti's charges and the prisoners cheering every time he did so.

Soon, Zavok began to tire and got slower with more charges. And Sonic could spot slow from a mile away.

He stopped to catch his breath for a moment. Putting his hands on his knees and panting. And that was all Sonic needed.

He zipped up to him and jumped up into the air, homing in on him and sending him reeling backwards.

When he landed, Zavok attempted a swipe at him, but he missed. Sonic was far too fast for him when jumped up into the air and sent a homing attack into him again.

As soon as he touched down, Sonic took out all his pent up anger over the situation and wailed on him. Right hook, left hook, right hook again. Over and over and even with a few roundhouses added into the mix. The prisoners went nuts at that, wishing they too could do the same to Zavok or really any of the other generals of the empire.

Zavok clutched his chest in pain. With a pant he glowered at the hedgehog. "No! How could I lose to the likes of you again!?"

Sonic responded by putting the power of the boost to his right leg and delivering a powerful roundhouse to the Zeti's chest that sent him flying into the force fields of one of the cells.

The prisoners inside cried out in fear as Zavok slammed into the forcefield. As soon as he struck it he was electrified by it. He screamed as he writhed against the field before he finally peeled off of it, falling in the deep chasm of the death prison below.

"Because you forgot who you were dealing with." He grinned, putting his hands on his hips.

Everyone cheered at that, applauding Sonic at his victory.

"Woo-hoo!"

"You did it!"

"Nice one Sonic!"

Sonic took a bow for them and then looked to the cellmates that were still covering their heads from having the 300 pound Zeti slam against their cell just a few moments ago. "Hey, are you guys okay?"

A green monkey with wave designs all over his fur looked up at him and put a hand to his heaving chest. "Chaos, Sonic! Wasn't that a little overkill?"

"Hehe, sorry about that. The important thing is, I'm sure that we won't be hearing from him anytime soon."

They all agreed on that at least.

"Now, that that's done, it's time to set you all free!"

They cheered again and with that, he jumped off of the platform and made his way to one of the cells.

Just as he was about to open it, the alarm started blaring and the door that Zavok entered the prison from slid open.

Joseph immediately turned to his side and his eyes widened in surprise at who he saw.

"You're not going anywhere!"

Sonic turned to the direction of the voice to see none other than Shadow the Hedgehog.

Sonic laughed. "Well if it isn't Mr. tall, dark and gruesome? Eggman send you in to finish me off too?"

"I'm here to put an end to this nonsense. You're not going anywhere, Sonic. So just get back into your cell and nobody gets hurt."

"And that would only make your life easier. I'm freeing every single one of my friends here and you're not gonna stop me."

Shadow glared at him, to which Sonic stood his ground, responding with a smirk. Everyone watched with baited breath waiting to see what would happen between the two hedgehogs.

In one fluid motion, Shadow pulled out a Chaos Emerald, shocking Sonic and the rest of the people there. "Chaos Control!"

In a flash he disappeared and reappeared in front of Sonic to which he promptly delivered a roundhouse to his lookalike.

"Sonic!" A few cried out.

Sonic groaned and looked up at hm. Shadow just huffed and declared, "That's a final warning, Sonic. Get back into your cell."

Quick to his feet, he launched himself at Shadow, delivering a punch to his face that he was quick to block. He then launched another kick at him that knocked Shadow away. He skidded to a halt and glared at him again.

Sonic dashed at him again, but he disappeared in a flash of light again. This time appearing at his side, to which the hedgehog quickly backpedaled, narrowly avoiding a punch from Shadow. He jumped up into the air and homed into the black hedgehog.

Shadow stumbled and fell but was quick to teleport again. This time, he was on the arena and took to firing off Chaos Spears at the hedgehog.

"Woah!" Sonic shouted. He ran alongside the cells, dashing ahead, jumping over and sliding under blasts from Shadow.

The prisoners looked on with shock at the display, covering their heads as the blast struck their cell's force fields only to harmlessly dissolve against them. Nowhere near as bad as when Zavok was catapulted against the field, but still terrifying all the same.

Sonic took his chance and jumped up into the air, ready to home in on Shadow only to take a Chaos Spear to the gut. He fell to the ground in a heap at that.

"Had enough, Sonic?"

Sonic staggered to his feet and looked him dead in the eyes. "Is that all you got?"

Shadow just shook his head. "Look, I don't wanna have to bring any further harm to you. If you know what's good for you, you'll get back in your cell _now_."

"And I'll fight you until every last one of them is free."

Joseph looked at the fight. Sonic was finally free and he saw him take on Zavok and he wasn't holding up too well against Shadow. If he continued like this then... it wouldn't be good.

So that's why he shouted. "RUN SONIC!"

"What!?"

"You're not going to win this fight!" He insisted. "Leave the prison, join the resistance!"

"Don't be absurd!" Shadow shouted.

"I'm not leaving any of you behind!" Sonic added.

"Then come back for us! Live to fight another day!" He insisted. "Come on, everyone look at him!"

The prisoners did look and saw the same. A hedgehog while still strong, would not be able to manage a second fight against a primed and ready Ultimate Life Form.

"Run Sonic!"

"Get out of here!"

"Leave!"

"Come back for us!"

"Please stay safe!"

Sonic looked between Shadow and the prisoners. His mind was racing a billion different ways about what he could possibly do. There was so much that could be done, he had to free them. But they were right, after the fight with Zavok, there was no way he could take Shadow right here and right now.

So with one last longing look at them, he announced. "I promise I'll come back for you!"

And with that, he dashed off. He raced out of the door and a surprised Shadow was quick to follow.

"Good luck, Sonic."

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The Chaotix continued to prove more and more of pain than the masked one had thought. But at this rate, they just kept coming and coming at him even more determined than ever before.

Espio would charge at him and he'd teleport just a few feet away only for him to have to vault himself over Charmy's stinger and fire a laser at Vector to keep the Crocodile from landing a punch in the gut.

It was almost as if they were everywhere and were coming at him from all directions.

The masked one flew up into the air so that they were out of reach. Espio and Vector called out after him and fired their own attacks up into the sky where he just continued to dodge them. It was time to even the playing field again.

The sound of distortion rang out around them and with that, two clones of the being appeared before them.

"Are you kidding me?!" All three of them asked.

The masked clones simply chuckled before racing towards the Chaotix to engage all three of them.

The first clone took off for Charmy who decided not to take it on one on one and instead took off to the skies where the clone quickly chased after him.

As for the other clone, Vector didn't back down at all. In fact, he ran out at it, rearing his fist back and prepared to deliver a punch to the being. But it teleported behind him and tried to fire a laser at his back. But Vector was quick to spin around and have his tail sweep the masked one's feet right out from under him.

"You tried that trick before but it's not gonna work this time."

The clone grunted in response.

With a yell, he fired off a music note that the clone threw up an electrical field around himself to block the shot and smack into the crocodile's face.

He stumbled backwards and the clone took the chance to tackle him.

He pushed him back a few steps only for Vector to find his footing and leave marks in the snow as the two grappled each other looking one another eye to eye -literally in the case of the masked one.

And as for Espio, he met the original head on as well and they began to trade blows.

Punches, kicks and the like were expertly matched and neither were letting up. It was awfully intense.

With flight, tackling and straight out brawls going all out, the heat was on between the four… or well, six of them.

And then it happened…

 _ **WHEN EVERYTHING YOU KNOW HAS COME AND GOOOOOOOOOOOOONE**_

 _ **(You are at your lowest, I am rising higher.)**_

 _ **AND ONLY SCARS REMAIN OF WHO I WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS**_

 _ **(We'll fight in the ashes, you're losing the fire!)**_

 _ **WHEN-**_

He groaned and froze the battlefield again.

"What do you want?!"

"You need to come up here right away."

" _After_ I am finished."

"No, you take orders from me and this requires all of your attention!"

"What could have possibly happened that requires my presence on the Death Egg now?"

"Sonic has escaped."

The masked one paused and looked up to the sky and then looked back to the Chaotix.

"I'm on my way."

With that, he unfroze them and kicked Espio in the face, knocking him away and sending him into yet another pile of snow.

Without a word, the clones disappeared and Infinite shot up into the sky leaving them behind.

With nothing to hold onto anymore, Vector too fell into the snow.

They all looked around confusedly only to help Espio out.

"Are you ok?" Charmy asked him.

"I'm fine." He then looked around. "Where is the masked one?"

Vector just shook his head and pointed up at the sky.

Espio could only glare at the figure getting smaller and smaller as it flew up into the air.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Alarms blared the moment Sonic stepped foot outside of the prison. He went down a long hall, jumping over random pits and death traps as well as getting out of reach so that the ceiling that kept trying to come down on him wouldn't crush him. It was kinda ridiculous how heavily the defenses were but he continued to run and run.

Leaving everyone behind was bad enough. But he was not going to let them down by getting caught or worse.

Speaking of getting caught, Shadow was right on his coattails, shouting out orders for him to get back into his cell that he only half listened to at this point. It was the same spiel he gave when they were actually in the prison so why bother listening to it now?

He catapulted off of a spring and was outside.

For the very first ime in six months, Sonic was free of containment. He was met with immediate cold and darkness. Well it would've been pitch black if it weren't for the great planet he could see at his side, with the sun's glow just barely peeking over the side. But if that weren't enough of a light show then the glow coming from the massive buildings atop asteroids definitely did it. Along with all of that massive warships were peppered the sky around him, flying in tight formations.

Sonic knew he was off planet, since he could actually catch little glimpses of Mobius from his cell. Heck, he even thought Eggman made sure of that to mess with him. But still, to be out here was truly a sight he'd never get tired of.

But it was back to reality when he landed on a grind rail that took him down to another building atop another asteroid.

"CHAOS SPEAR!"

Sonic knew what that meant and instantly jumped off of the grind rail without much thought. Luckily for him, a few Buzzer Bombers were present for him to home into. Soon, he found himself going into an asteroid that broke apart to reveal a spring that catapulted him up onto a solid metal platform.

When he landed he stopped to see where Shadow was only to find him on a smaller much lower platform. "Ha! Not gonna catch me now."

"Tch! Idiot." Shadow snarked, before holding up his Chaos Emerald.

Sonic swore and was already beginning to boost away before he even uttered the words and disappeared in a flash of light.

Shadow did not appear on the platform though and Sonic decided to jump to the entrance of the next building rather than taking the rail that conveniently waited for him.

That's where Shadow was waiting for him, but he didn't expect was for Sonic to boost past him without a problem at all.

Shadow growled but continued to chase after him, following him when he was off of springs that lead him to the exit, which lead to another set of springs.

Sonic had already crashed through asteroids and landed on a set of grind rails with a group of chasers. He was far too occupied dodging their shots. He probably thought that he was far ahead of Shadow. But he would show him.

Not even finishing bouncing off of the springs, he called upon the power of the Chaos Emerald and appeared next to him in a flash, shocking the blue blur and nearly causing him to fall of the rail.

"CHAOS SPEAR!" He shouted again.

Bright arrows of light appeared around him and fired at the hedgehog. But each every one of them missed him.

The fact that not a single one of them landed on him when he was only on a grind rail was shocking. There was very little room to dodge. But still, he continued on.

The rail lead them into another building and this one was different than the last.

They entered from the bottom and this one simply had a spiral stairway up to the top where it lead out into more space.

Sonic didn't waste time boosting up the stairs to which Shadow did the same, just a little ways behind him.

When they finally reached out in space and on the rails again, that's when Sonic finally saw it. The gigantic ball of metal that depicted his oldest enemy's face. It was the Death Egg again.

"The Death Egg! Are you kidding me?!" Sonic shouted.

Shadow couldn't help but look confusedly at him. "Got a problem, Sonic?"

"You wouldn't know." Sonic shrugged. "Eggman's built this thing more times than I can count but I thought he got over it years ago."

Shadow huffed and began to shout, "Chaos-"

"Now you just wait a minute!" Sonic snapped. "What the heck are you doing here, fighting on Eggman's side? Do you have amnesia again or something?"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Oh please, I'm perfectly fine."

"Then what is your deal?"

Shadow just couldn't help but give him a smirk. "Don't ask questions you couldn't begin to understand the answers to, Sonic. CHAOS SPEAR!"

Sonic gasped as more of the light arrows came for him and at that, Sonic jumped right off of the rail. Shadow gaped at him as he saw him go plummeting down only to see him to land on a ship. It was one of the smaller fighters. But it was fast and Sonic was able to hold on.

"Smell 'ya later, Shadow!" Sonic gave him a two finger salute as it rocketed off.

Shadow grit his teeth in frustration. "You're not getting away that easily! Chaos Spear!"

Shadow fired off several Chaos Spears at the blue one and his ship. But seemed like for once, the doctor coded something well as it weaved in between every one of his shots.

With a groan he watched Sonic fly away as the rail lead into another portion of the Death Egg. Nothing he could do now.

Sonic had escaped him.

Sonic was glad that he finally lost Shadow and the small fleet of ships he was on flew closer and closer to the Death Egg. He was gonna be fine. All he needed to do was to find a ship and get home.

But first, he needed to live as the Death Egg finally took notice of him and began to fire on its own ships.

He jumped between the different ones as they continued to be picked off one by one. But with enough concentrated fire, he was finally knocked out of the sky and fell deep in a hole in the Death Egg.

Knowing he would hit solid ground, he got into position and dived down to see where it would take him.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Celeste should've known that she was going to die in a place with the word death in the title. Still? Being surrounded by a bunch of robots was not the way she had planned to go.

But with the robots having their blasters trained on her, she prayed that this would be quick.

Her eyes screwed shut as the robots advanced on her. It was over, this was it.

And then she heard the sound of metal falling apart.

 _What the heck?_

She looked to see a streak of blue ramming into the robots all around her and turning them to scrap metal. Needless to say, it was quick.

Now that was something she had seen so often on television throughout her life, but seeing it before her very eyes was truly something. Still, the fact that she was seeing it was insane.

She figured she was already dead and she was having some hallucination, that this couldn't possibly be what she was seeing considering the only person in the world this could be was dead.

But they uncurled from their ball form and landed in front of her in a crouch.

And there he was. Quills as dark as blue as Mobius' oceans, shoes as red as the bricks back home and when he rose to his feet and opened his eyes, they were as green as the luminous chaos emerald.

He reached out a hand to her and smiled. "Is everything okay?"

The voice… it really was him.

Sonic the Hedgehog.

But he had been dead for months. Which meant if she was seeing him, it was an angel. Needless to say as she took his hand and rose to her feet, that lead her to the dumbest question she had ever asked in her entire life. "Am I dead?"

Sonic raised an eyeridge at her and laughed. "I hope not. After all the craziness I've just been through, meeting a dead girl would be pretty wild. Though not the weirdest thing to ever happen to me."

"I- I- I don't understand?"

"You'd have to have been there." Sonic shrugged.

But Celeste shook her head. "No, I mean… I don't understand. If I'm not dead and you're here that would mean that you're alive."

"Well, yeah." Sonic said. "I was alive last I checked. Why is this such a big deal?"

"You're dead!" Celeste shouted at him.

Sonic's heart sank at that. "I'm what?!"

"You died six months ago!" Celeste continued. "After you weren't able to beat Eggman, he aired the whole thing on TV and showed us what happened. He told the whole world that you died that day."

Sonic frowned and was about to respond only for her com to flicker to life.

"Celeste, is everything okay?" Amy's voice came. "Everybody's waiting for you back at the hangar. We're getting out of here."

Calm and relief washed over Sonic's face at the sound of her voice. Celeste figured that was why he decided to focus on that instead of Celeste's statement. In fact, that's why before Celeste could answer, he did. "Out of here? That's a relief. Where's the first way out, Amy?"

And then they were only met with silence.

Sonic looked confusedly at the girl who he now knew was Celeste. And she just gave him the same confused look.

"SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!"

Celeste nearly busted an eardrum at that, it was so loud.

They could hear sobbing on the other end of the line after that. Once again, Amy had lost her cool in the middle of a mission. Only this time, no one could really blame her for it. She was now a blubbering mess from the other end and it left Celeste confused.

But Sonic didn't seem phased at all by this. "Hey, Amy. Good to hear your voice after all this time."

A million words a minute came out at that. All in some sort of sobbing gibberish mess that Celeste didn't quite understand.

But Sonic responded right away. "I'm fine. Right now, we to move. You said there was a hangar somewhere nearby, could you tell us where it is so that Celeste?"

She nodded.

"And I can get out of here."

Amy cleared her throat. "Ju-just down the hall. It's long but you'll get into the hangar."

"No problem." Sonic smiled.

He then turned to Celeste and scooped her up in his arms. She let out a yelp at that.

"Hold tight, Celeste. We're out of here."

She didn't know what exactly she expected but in a second she was standing before everyone in Sonic's arms.

All of them gave flabbergasted looks at them and she honestly couldn't tell who was the most shocked of the group.

Sonic on the other hand just smiled and waved at them, "Hey everyone. Guess who's back?"

Because she still felt all eyes on her she gave a sheepish smile and added, "Mission accomplished?"

Knuckles was the first to drop the dumbfounded look and smile. "You son of a gun! Old Eggman told us you kicked the bucket."

Sonic was nonchalant about it, unlike when she told him. "Psh… please. You really think that he could lay a finger on me?"

"Well… this definitely wasn't in any of the data I got about this place." Rouge said. "But I'm happy to see you Sonic."

Silver just shook his head and grinned. "We may have failed the mission, but with you here… just… I'm so happy to see you Sonic."

Rhythm was the one to speak up. "And looks like we owe all of that to Celeste.

"She found Sonic!" Gadget cheered.

"Well… I didn't…"

But Sonic shook his head. "Don't be so modest. Without you, I'd have probably ran in the opposite direction and then I'd have never gotten out of here. Thank you, Celeste."

"Yeah… the reunion is great." Fierro cut in. "But may I remind you that we're still on the Death Egg. We need to get out of here now."

And with that, the sound of distortion rang out around them, making everyone's blood run cold.

"Oh but you are not going anywhere…"

They turned and came face to face with the masked one. Floating in the Death Egg before all of them.

"I see that you all have managed to rendezvous with your fallen comrade. Such a happy reunion, I am sure. But this is as far as you go."

Without a word, the sound rang out again and the ship that they were all about to board disappeared.

"Leave us alone, you masked clown!" Sonic shouted. "You're not laying a hand on any of them."

He was crouched and ready, prepared to home in on him at a moment's notice. None of them wanted him to have to go through with that. Not after what they saw happen all those months ago.

"Masked clown, really?" He shook his head. "No. I will not go by such juvenile names. You may call me Infinite. At least in the brief moments that remain to you. Now prepare to oblivion.

He began to fly towards them, ready to destroy them all.

And at that very moment, a space ship flew into the base and slamed into Infinite knocking him into a wall.

The ship opened up and revealed Espio and Vector.

Vector covered his mouth, looking a little greener than usual. "That's the last time we ever let Charmy drive."

"Agreed." Espio added. He then waved everyone forward. "Get in quickly!"

Without much argument everyone got into the shuttle and after a quick switch of drivers, they were off leaving the Death Egg as quickly as possible.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Sonic let out a sigh as they approached land. "Now that was close…"

"Too close if you ask me." Gadget added.

They all agreed. Happy to have gotten away from what could've been the end.

"So it's back to Sunset then, right?" Sonic asked.

Knuckles shook his head. "That base was destroyed we're headed somewhere… a little closer to my heart."

"Oh and where's that?"

Knuckles smiled and said, "Take a look for yourself."

Sonic took a look out the window and his eyes widened in surprise as the clouds cleared.

Floating proud above the ocean was none other than Angel Island, but it wasn't quite the same. Large ancient temple like structures stood all around them and several Echidna mingled about. It was Pachacamac's village?!

"We've got a lot to tell you, Sonic."

 **EPISODE KNUCKLES UNLOCKED!**

 **[1] The robot that Zavok uses is apparetly called the Death Queen, at least according to the Sonic Forces OST.**

 **Staying up to almost 3AM to finish a chapter of your fanfic? Well… that's one way to spend your Valentine's Day. Other weird things while writing this chapter include writing Zavok's bossfight to Metal Sonic's boss music (my music is on shuffle and it popped up) and also writing a lot of this chapter to Mario Odyssey music. You know how weird it is to write Sonic and Shadow duking it out to "Jump Up! Super Star?" Ahahahaha. No, but for real. We are done here and this is officially the longest chapter of the story so far. Even longer if you count part 1. I hope you liked it because wew! That was a blast to write. Next chapter is going to be EPISODE & KNUCKLES which I'm excited to write. So until next time, my wonderful readers.**

 **R &R!**


	7. Chapter 6: Episode Knuckles

**Presenting to you the chapter that will be rougher than the rest of them. Episode KNUCKLES.**

 **But first review replies:**

 **Alexandria Prime:  
Thanks! And you're right. As far as I'm concerned the majority of the fandom agrees that it should've been Angel Island. Of course, mine is with the twist of Pachacamac's Village. I wonder what that's all about. Guess you'll find out in this chapter.  
Actually, fun facts, originally the Resistance Base was gonna be a casino in the middle of the forest which eventually became Casino Forest and then a stormy prison in Green Hill Zone before they finally decided to put it in Sunset. It surprises me that the team never once thought of Angel Island, at least as far as we know with Knuckles as leader and all. **

**SpiderDom321:**

 **Haha, good to see you reviewing as always. With all those woahs, you should change your name to BandicootDom321.  
The action will always be present. Heck, if you loved the last chapter then you're gonna love the next patch of chapters I've got planned. But more on that in the future, I suppose. And Infinite's gotta have that edge x1000 ringtone.  
Oh my gosh, that's an awesome comparison.  
Sonic and Shadow's fight is actually a callback to their final showdown on the Space Colony Arc in Adventure 2 what with them chasing each other IN SPACE! And Odyssey's OST is glorious.  
Rhythm's album is gonna be awesome.  
Thanks for the review as always!**

 **bajy:**

 **Thanks so much!**

 **Mr. Meme:  
Good tastes, my friend.  
I'm glad you enjoyed them.  
Shadow's just being an edge lord as always. You'll find out what his real deal is later on.  
Ooooo I bet it was awesome to those songs. Thanks as always!**

 **ExMarkSpot:  
For sure, she's gonna be ecstatic.**

 **Now onto the chapter!**

 **Sonic Forces**

 **Chapter 6:**

 **Episode Knuckles**

Angel Island.

A beautiful place that has stood high above the surface of Mobius for ages. It was a lush and beautiful land filled to the brim with greenery that would've made the greatest of nature lovers envy anyone who got the chance to explore the vast tropical jungle amongst other wonderful environments that were housed on one floating island.

One of the many parts of the massive island was a simple half conical structure made entirely of aging stone with cracks and crumbles all around, but still stood proud and tall despite the tests of time. Pillars of the same rock stood around in a circle, none were perfect though with the same cracks and all but intact, others had holes in them or were at varying heights due to entire sections chipped away and others were just piles of rubble on the ground.

But in the center of it all sat a radiant green gem that shone brightly in the sunlight. It constantly thrummed with raw power that made even those that couldn't tap into Chaos Energy feel when near the emerald. It was powerful, but warm and welcoming to those who could bask in its presence.

There was one lucky person who had the honor of being around the emerald constantly. He was the lone inhabitant of Angel Island, the grand protector of the master emerald and rougher than the rest of them. It was…

 **KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA**

The red echidna smiled as he rested against the emerald, basking in its power and the natural beauty of the island. Birds chirped, squirrels chattered and life continued to live around him. The echidna wouldn't have it any other way.

 _As much as I love a good treasure hunt, you can't beat the peace and quiet of Angel Island._ He mused and then put a hand to his chin in thought. _Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've been roped into one of Sonic's adventures._

And that was true. He wasn't really there for the whole ordeal on The Lost Hex, he just occasionally helped on the com with Amy. The last real adventure he was a part of was the weird time travel thing on his birthday, but that was months ago.

Sure, he liked Sonic but the less he saw of him or any other hedgehog for that matter, usually meant the safer the Master Emerald was so that was good enough for him.

"KNUCKLES!" A shrill voice shouted out.

Knuckles immediately jumped to his feet, prepared for combat with whatever might come his way.

He dropped the defense when he saw who it was, but was still on edge because of course, it was a hedgehog.

It wasn't Sonic that was flying towards him though. This hedgehog had snow white quills and glowing yellow eyes. Some of his quills were done up and around his head while a few were swooped back like most of them. All of him was covered by a mystical green aura.

"Silver?!"

"Thank goodness, you are here!"

Silver was frantic, nearly toppling over him when he touched down on the island.

"We've got trouble! Eggman-"

But Knuckles just glared at him. "How did you find my island, Silver?"

"Knuckles!"

"No. I'm serious, Silver. How did you find my island?"

Silver just shook his head and tried to continue. "Knuckles, please! I come with a dire warning from the future! It is imperative that-"

" _How did you find Angel Island?"_

"Knuckles, please."

"Angel Island's location is a constantly changing and heavily disguised so that it cannot simply be seen or spotted by the average being. So I ask you again, _how did you find my island?"_

Silver sighed. "I dunno, I popped out of a portal and ended up here."

Knuckles glared at him, but nodded slowly. "Alright… but just don't go showing up here unannounced _**ever again**_."

Silver gulped but shakily nodded his head.

Knuckles calmed down at that and said, "But what's this about trouble with Eggman?"

"Something terrible is happening in the future! History is unwinding and and turning the world into something broken. I don't know what or how, but something has changed here that's tearing this world apart."

"Well, as far as I know nothing's going on over here." Knuckles shrugged. "Of course, I've just been here with the Master Emerald."

"Is something happening on the surface?" Silver asked.

"I don't know. No one's called me about trouble and I don't exactly go checking up on things down there."

Silver sighed. "Then I might not be too late."

" _That's where you're wrong."_

Floating before them was Eggman, smiling his usual cheshire grin.

"Eggman!" They both shouted.

"The one and only."

"What are you doing here, Eggman?" Knuckles growled.

"Can't I come to pay you a visit, my dear friend?" Eggman mused. "After all, I feel you're all on your lonesome here, so I figured I'd drop in."

"And take the Master Emerald, right?" Knuckles scoffed. "Get out of here, I'm not playing games, Eggman."

"How rude. Turning away a guest like that, but I see you are preoccupied with your other friend."

Knuckles simply acknowledged Silver with a huff before rolling his eyes. "He was just leaving too."

"Knuckles!" Silver shouted.

Eggman just grinned even bigger. "Such a horrible host. No wonder no one comes to visit you!"

"And that's why you should get lost!"

Eggman just shook his head. "Very well. But what good would it be to leave without a parting gift?"

And with that, Eggman produced a purplish pink gem that shone brightly in the sunlight.

Knuckles and Silver had to cover their eyes at the very sight of it as the loud sound of distortion rang out around them.

When the light cleared, Eggman was still hovering before them.

"What did you do, Eggman?"

The doctor made a grand gesture towards the Master Emerald.

At first, nothing happened. They both stared at the radiant green jewel. But just as quickly, they felt a slight shudder in the chaos energies around the Master Emerald.

A pool of water slowly seeped out of the Master Emerald and gathered on top of it before rising and forming into a familiar humanoid shape with an odd pointed head, glowing green eyes and a brain that could be seen within the water.

Silver gaped at the sight, "What is that!?"

Eggman laughed. "You fool, that is Chaos! The God of Destruction!"

Knuckles growled. "How did you free Chaos from the Master Emerald?!"

"Oh ho ho, but that would spoil the surprise, now wouldn't it Knuckles?"

"Come Chaos!" He ushered the water beast forward, who quickly followed after him to the great island behind them.

Silver and Knuckles were quick to do a 180 and follow the two only to gasp at the sight that stood before them.

Angel Island wasn't there anymore. Or well, it was. But it also wasn't. Standing in the place what used to be a tropical jungle were now gigantic almost pyramidal temples that towered overhead. But the thing that truly got Knuckles to stop in his tracks were the echidna milling about the structure, all in tribal clothing.

"What happened to the island?!" Silver gaped.

Knuckles just stood there absolutely shocked at the sight. _How… how did this happen?_

Silver noticed the echidna's awestruck look and he snapped a finger in front of his face to get his attention. "KNUCKLES! KNUCKLES!"

It wasn't until Eggman and Chaos zoomed past some of the tribe and caused an uproar that he was able to regain his focus.

"Let's go get him!" Knuckles shouted.

And with that, the two raced off into the village.

Panic had ensued for the Echidna at the sight of the strange moustache man in a strange flying contraption and the water creature following after him. Spears were chucked at both Eggman and Chaos as they passed by. Eggman was easily able to ignore them, flying higher than they could reach. But Chaos didn't go unprovoked, sending streams of water into several echidna that not only soaked them, but sent them flying.

Knuckles and Silver didn't have much time to do anything about the echidna that the Chaos mercilessly attacked and continued on their trail, nothing was going to stop them.

It wasn't long until Eggman and Chaos stopped at the edge of the island.

It was a simple clearing to what would've been the entrance of the village with a simple arch way that had letters written along the top in ancient echidna and a path that didn't lead anywhere but open sky.

Eggman and Chaos looked out over the edge as Knuckles and Silver came to a stop. "End of the line, Eggman!" Knuckles declared.

"I couldn't agree more." Eggman grinned. "Chaos! End them now."

With that, the creature raised its head to glare at them. And with that, a stream of water rocketed towards the two of them.

Silver and Knuckles both dove out of the way of the attacks. Silver fired off a psychic knife that sliced the deity in half.

"I did it!" He cheered.

Knuckles just rolled his eyes at his excitement and charged him.

Chaos was able to reform, much to the hedgehog's chagrin.

Knuckles jumped up into the air and tried to punch Chaos, but he was ready, sending out another fist at the echidna that knocked him into a wall. Covered in water, he fell to the ground with a thud.

He tried to throw another fist at him, but Silver was quick to respond, covering him in his psychic energy and lifted him up in the air. He chucked the mutant at the doctor.

"HEY!" He shouted. To which Silver chuckled.

Chaos still reformed underneath the doctor and to Silver's shock, lunged towards Knuckles again who was just getting up.

Knuckles didn't have time to react, but SIlver did, throwing another psychic knife to meet him and slice him in half again.

He still reformed in front of Knuckles, who was ready and sent an uppercut into his chin. Chaos went flying as Knuckles grinned only for another fist to come flying at him again.

Silver was at it again with the psychic knife, cutting off the arm again.

Knuckles took that as an opening and charged into Chaos himself, Silver followed suit as well, covering himself in his energy and flying towards him.

Chaos looked between the two as they were ready to attack, knowing that this definitely wouldn't end well for him. So he did what anyone would've done in the situation…

He bailed.

Chaos slunk back into his water form and slithered to where Knuckles was standing before leaving the two to smack right into each other, dazed and confused.

When he reformed, he was quick to lash out at them with his limbs and encased them both in water, lifting them both in the air.

Silver and Knuckles struggled to breath. They each tried to grasp for breath, but to no avail.

At least for Knuckles.

Silver realized how quickly things were going south and covered himself in his waning energy before letting it out in a massive psychic burst.

The water immediately dissipated into nothing leaving Knuckles to fall to the ground and clumsily land in a crouch and for Silver to hover a few feet off the ground.

They both gasp for breath and glare at Chaos, only for him to come at them again, once again bringing his focus on Knuckles.

The Echidna weakly rose to his feet to try and stop Chaos but something surprised them both.

"STOP!" Someone called out.

All three combatants stopped and looked towards the source of the voice and Eggman and Knuckles were completely shocked at who they saw.

She was a young echidna with light orange quills like a peach decked out in similar tribal wear as a lot of the others, she wore a worried expression on her face as she looked between the god of destruction and his opponents.

Knuckles blurted out her name before anyone even had a chance to react further. "Tikal?!"

She looked confusedly at him but addressed her focus back on Chaos. "Please. They know not what they are doing, have mercy on them!"

Chaos stared at her and she looked at him with pleading eyes before he finally turned away from Knuckles and Eggman.

"What?! No! You answer to me!" Eggman shouted. "Finish them all!"

Chaos looked between them for a moment before he made his decision.

He trotted towards the edge of the island and hopped right off.

Eggman facepalmed. "Well… I have a God of Destruction to catch. Still, this first test has turned out to be a brilliant success! I won't even _need_ the Master Emerald with this power!"

"Test?" Silver asked. "Just what are you up to, Eggman?"

Eggman just laughed. "But that would just spoil the surprise! Besides, you're from the future, why don't you figure it out?"

And with that, he went over the edge of Angel Island and left them all confused.

"You mind telling me what the heck just happened, Silver?"

"Me?!" Silver gaped. "I was gonna ask you, what was that water thing? And what's with the village? What is Eggman doing?"

Knuckles was about to answer only for Tikal to cut in. "That was Chaos, the God of the emeralds. He has been angered by our way of life and the harm that we have brought upon his people, the Chao. My father, the chief chose not to listen to me and now the poor creature has run off and with an outsider as well."

Knuckles was confused though. "What? No. Chaos The beef between him and your tribe was resolved years ago."

"I think you are confused. Our people have angered Chaos and now he has escaped and has come to wreak havoc on us all."

"And that all happened." Knuckles stated. "He slaughtered you all and years later- well bad stuff happened and we were able to work it out."

Tikal just still looked at him confusedly.

"Station Square doesn't ring a bell?"

Tikal shook her head to which Knuckles scratched his. "What is going on here?"

"We don't have time to worry about that, right now." Silver said. "Eggman still got away with that thing and we've got to catch up with him."

"I agree. If Eggman's got something that can do all of this, whatever it is then that means trouble. We need to round up the others and find him."

"So let's go."

"Wait!"

Both of them looked to Tikal.

"If Chaos is involved then allow me to accompany you. The poor creature is lost and confused and if this _Eggman_ truly is as dangerous as you say then I fear we might bring on the God's wrath."

"You will do no such thing!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes, but turned to see another echidna, this one maroon in color. He was decked out in far more extravagant tribal gear than the rest and had a staff in his hands pointed dangerously at all three of them but something told Silver that Knuckles and Tikal were far more safe than he was.

Chief Pachacamac stood before them and he was not at all pleased with them.

"You both wish to leave the village with an outsider? No. If Chaos has been summoned then it is none of our concern. Allow him to find peace on his own and punish the human for entering our land."

"Uh… I hate to break it to 'ya but Chaos was the one who left with Eggman. Let us go."

"Watch your tone, young one." He snapped back. "In fact, what are you doing without your tribal attire, to show such disrespect for our kind and for your chief? You have no place to be giving orders."

"Hey, I don't take answers from you!"

Pachacamac scoffed. "Then you truly are lost. I have no time for a child who shows such disrespect."

Knuckles was about to retort, but he was stopped by Silver. "Please, sir. We mean you no harm. We apologize for trespassing on your land, but we have a major problem on our hands. That man is causing trouble for our world and we have to stop them. Let us leave the island."

"You are an outsider and a bad influence on my daughter and this lost one. Leave now. They will stay."

"Father!"

"There's no arguing with him, let's just get out of here." Knuckles said.

They all turned to leave but the chief was quick to grab Tikal, not letting her move.

"Tikal!" They both cried out. They tried to go after her but guard appeared in front of them. Monsters of Echidna stood before them.

"Go! Tikal called out. "Take care of Chaos, please help him!"

Knuckles and Silver looked at each other and nodded. "We promise!"

And with that, they ran off the edge of the island. Out on another adventure to stop Eggman and eventually form the resistance.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

"You never mentioned Tikal or Chaos!" Sonic yelled.

Knuckles shrugged. "You never asked."

Sonic raised an eyeridge at him but decided it wasn't worth it. "Okay… that still doesn't explain why your base moved here. What happened to us operating out of Sunset Heights?"

"I was getting to that before you rudely interrupted me!"

Sonic rolled his eyes as Knuckles put a hand to his chin in thought.

"Now where was I…"

He snapped his fingers.

"Oh yeah! So Silver and I gathered up all our friends to join up in what would become the resistance while Eggman started changing the world. He wasn't a serious threat, but then that day six months ago came... "

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Sunset Heights was in absolute panic and Knuckles wasn't having fun dealing with it.

The place was under attack by Eggman's forces, which sure, was nothing new. But what they didn't expect was for the sheer numbers to appear right at their front doorstep.

With so much of a concentration here, Knuckles figured that Eggman found them. But still, with all the chaos going on in the city, he did what he did best and beat them all to scrap metal.

So with that, he dove down into a pack of Eggpawns, sending parts flying at the sheer force of the knuckles that he sent

Knuckles couldn't help but smirk at the sight of the robots falling apart in front of him. But he wasn't done yet, a laser rushed passed him and hit a wall.

Knuckles growled at that only to turn and see a pack of robots opening fire on him.

But that was no problem for him. He jumped into the air and dove into the ground below. Digging into the pavement and popping out right underneath the head of the robots, breaking it apart.

The others were alarmed when the parts of their leader went flying towards them and tried to return fire on Knuckles. But he was quick on his feet, running into them and punching them through their stomachs, ending in their desturction.

Knuckles smirked and got on the coms again. "Alright, I think I've cleared Park Avenue, is everyone else okay?"

Espio was the first to chime in. "Twilight Boulevard is safe as well."

"Eggman's comin' in hot this time!" Vector added. "Nothin' like we've ever seen."

"But nothing for the Chaotix!" Charmy chirped.

"Sunset Heights University is clear too." Gadget chirped. "Didn't think I'd be saving my school again."

"Beta Squad is okay." Fierro added.

"I've got things on the Red Gate Bridge." Silver confirmed. "Eggman's forces have managed to rip holes in the bridge but otherwise… We're okay."

Others gave their affirmatives as well that they got the situation under control.

Silver then added, "And Sonic came by from Green Hill a bit ago. He was moving so fast, nearly blew me off my feet. I don't know where he was going."

"He went to Tails' location." Amy confirmed. "Things are going okay in HQ, but I haven't heard anything from them since."

Knuckles frowned. "It's not like Tails not to report. Tails? Come in, can you hear us?"

They received no answer.

Knuckles frown grew even bigger at that. "Amy, do you have Tails' location?"

"I do he's just a bit south of your own position, but-"

Suddenly there was a loud boom on Amy's end.

"AMY?!" Everyone called.

"I need anyone here now!"

"What's going on?" Knuckles asked.

"Shadow is attacking the resistance is base!"

"I'm on my way!"

Knuckles didn't waste time, he barrelled through the town, knocking out more robots than he could possibly imagine.

So Knuckles ran and beat his way through the forces, but it seemed that things would get worse as the radio chatter from the resistance came in.

"Confirmed sighting of Eggman!" A random fighter shouted. "He's making a mad dash out of the city and I don't know why?"

"Eggman himself is on the scene?" Knuckles asked. "We haven't seen him make an appearance since the battle at Green Hill!"

"He's here now and he looked pretty happy about something, I don't know what!"

"Confirmed sighting of Chaos!" Corvin cried out on the other end. "Beta Squad requesting back- jfghssdfkjsf" He cut off at the sound of rushing water.

"Confirmed sighting of Metal Sonic!" Espio shouted. "Team Chaotix engaging, may require assistance!"

"I don't know who this is?" Silver asked. "But he's some big red Zeti and is leading a fleet on the Red Gate Bridge now."

"Zavok?!" Knuckles gasped.

"Well whoever he is, he's a tough customer. Anyone near the bridge, come to me, I need some help over here!"

On other ends, some didn't even get the chance to speak, only the sound of distortion rang out on their ends and horrible twisted laughter from a voice no one had ever heard before.

Everything was going south for the resistance. All these threats just deciding to appear now when they looked to be winning the fight for Sunset Heights. Knuckles didn't like any of this. Where was Tails? Where was Sonic? Why did all these threats come together now? What was that horrible sound that they kept hearing on the coms? How could everything turn south so quickly?

He didn't know. But that wasn't his problem right now. He had to get to Resistance HQ and take care of Shadow before it was too late?

Why was Shadow attacking them, shouldn't he be with GUN? What the heck was happening?

But after fighting his way through the town, he managed to make it to the edge of the town where the base was.

There, Knuckles gasped at the sight of Amy, tightly clutching her hammer in front of the half destroyed building that was the resistance base. In front of her, was Shadow, who glared her down, Chaos Emerald in hand.

Amy went swinging though. As soon as Shadow was upon her, he got the full force of her hammer to his gut. Knocking him in Knuckles direction.

His eyes widened at that, but he knew what he had to do and prepared a jab that sent him into a nearby wall with a grunt.

"You okay, Amy?" Knuckles asked.

Amy nodded. "Yeah, but the base isn't. I'm glad you're here though. I don't know how long I was gonna hold Shadow alone."

"And what makes you think you can with help?"

They both turned in the direction of the voice to see none other than Shadow smirking at them.

Both of them, stood battle ready, Knuckles with his fists up and Amy clutching her hammer.

Shadow pulled out his Chaos Emerald and with a command, he disappeared in a flash of light.

Both Amy and Knuckles got even more on guard at that only for Shadow to appear between them. He sent a roundhouse to Amy first, knocking her away. Knuckles was quick to jump at him but he fired a Chaos Spear to keep him away.

With them separated, Shadow took to follow after Knuckles. Knuckles was quick to throw his hands up to block the roundhouse that Shadow sent. It worked and he tried to throw a punch at him only for Shadow to warp out of the way.

Knuckles ran forward, knowing Shadow was likely to appear behind him and he was right, Shadow appeared there and swung at nothing but air to where he looked at the fleeing Echidna trying to rendezvous with Amy.

In response, he fired off a Chaos Spear that struck him in the back. With a cry, Knuckles fell flat on his face.

"Knuckles!" Amy shouted.

She glared at Shadow and leapt up into the air, her Piko-piko hammer at the ready and come down on him.

Shadow was once again able to teleport out of the way, but that seemed not to matter to him having appeared a little too close to Amy who was wildly swinging in all directions.

He was caught in the back and went flying again, but managed to right himself in the air and managed to land in a skidding crouch.

He looked up at Amy who was helping Knuckles to his feet.

Knuckles glared at Shadow though and had one word for him. "Why?"

Shadow was taken aback but shook his head. "It's not that easy to explain, Knuckles."

"Like, Gaia it isn't!" Knuckles snapped. "You come in here with your new pal Eggman and destroy the city? It means you've either lost your memory again or you're crazy!"

Shadow laughed. "If only you knew."

"Shadow, please! You don't have to do this, let us help you."

"I'm not done yet." Shadow stated. "Now get out of the way before it's too late."

"What?!" Both of them shouted.

Shadow just turned away from them and started towards the resistance base. Once he was right in front of it he brought out the Chaos Emerald again. "Chaos…"

Knuckles and Amy scrambled to their feet, quick to find shelter knowing exactly what he would do.

"BLAST!"

They dove out of the way as the entire base was washed in a wave of red, rippling Chaos Energy.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

"After that, we rounded up anybody who was left after the big attack on Sunset. We lost that battle and Eggman aired what happened to you on TV for everyone to see. It wasn't pretty."

Sonic frowned. "You guys couldn't get into contact with Tails? Did you ever find him?"

Knuckles just shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sonic. Tails has been MIA ever since."

"Oh." Sonic frowned.

The air grew silent at that. No one knew what exactly to say.

Sonic didn't like that so he spoke up.

"So what happened after that? The base was destroyed but how'd you guys get Pachacamac to let you stay?"

"We had nowhere else to go. We arrived on Angel Island and he initially turned us away. But Tikal intervened and allowed to stay so long as we kept to one temple and if Tikal was not to get involved."

With that, the ship landed and they were on the island.

They all exited the ship only for Sonic to immediately be tackled into a bearhug by Amy.

"SONIC!"

Normally, the blue blur would've hightailed it out of there in a heartbeat, but for once he didn't mind Amy. After all of those months, he missed her and couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, Amy."

"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! THEY SAID YOU WERE GONE AND I KNEW THAT MY SONIC WOULD NEVER BACK DOWN!"

She was crying and crying hard.

The others couldn't help but stare to which Knuckles ordered them all to leave so that it was just the three of them along with Rouge and Silver.

Sonic gave him a silent thank you while he continued to pat Amy on the back, assuring her that he was really there and that he was glad that she was able to stay strong for him.

When she finally calmed down enough, Knuckles clamped a hand on his shoulder.

"It's good to have you back, Sonic. But get some rest, because tomorrow we're gonna put you back to work."

 **And we clock in at nearly 5,000 words at 2AM. I'm much more happy with my word count than I am my lack of a sleep schedule, but eh well… what are you gonna do?**

 **I was editing this and was gonna give it to you last night, but sleep beat me at around 3AM so here we are now. And ironically, my playlist started playing the Adventure 2 version of Unknown From M.E. as I finished editing this. So I guess it's fate that I finish this now.**

 **I hope you all liked Episode Knuckles. If this were the actual game, then imagine Angel Island as level one, boss fight with Chaos and then the panic at Sunset Heights to finish off. I hope it answered a lot of your questions and all. I'll be having different episodes for characters I find necessary and yes, Episode Shadow is a thing but you won't be seeing it for a very long time. But yeah. I hope you all like Episode Knuckles.  
The next set of chapters is fun and is actually the thing that made me write this fic in the first place rather than just leaving it as a bunch of ideas in my head. So, get ready.  
R&R**


	8. Chapter 7: Reviving Hope Part 1

**So… here we are again for another chapter and ohohoho have I been waiting for this set of chapters for quite a while. This is honestly, the thing that pushed me to make this an actual fanfic in the first place. So you better believe that I am hype to get into this. Oh and if I'm late, don't think it's because I thought "Oh, I'm late I gotta split this chapter." Nah, this one was always meant to be split in two.  
Additionally, I just actually counted out how long this story is going to be. Like, I've had it planned out whats gonna happen when for some time but I didn't think of how many chapters this would be. It's around 40 so this'll definitely be a wild ride.  
But now for Review replies:**

 **SpiderDom321:  
Haha. I'm glad you liked it. And it's true. Good thing I can have him and still give the others a bit of the spotlight.**

 **Alexandria Prime:  
Idk… are they real? Y'never know… haha!**

 **bajy:  
Thank you!**

 **SaltwaterJanuary:  
Thank you! I'm glad you like it! **

**Infinite's Ruby:  
Thanks so much, I'm glad you like it!**

 **Tekina Fiction:  
We did talk, but I'll just bring up the most important part of our discussion and your review.  
You're not supposed to understand what's going on with Chaos/Angel Island/etc. Things will become more real as the story goes on. **

**Sonic Forces:**

 **Chapter 7-**

 **Reviving Hope Part 1- Setting the Stage**

A tan screen was shown before the logo of the Eggman Empire appeared on the screen with cheerful, old timey infomercial music playing in the background.

 **THE EGGMAN EMPIRE! It's not what you think!** Faded to life on the screen.

The scene then changed to a cheerful little city with the sun shining all around them.

" _Why live here?"_ Eggman asked.

Suddenly, little popping noises sounded and grey buildings with smoke billowing out the top appeared all around along with all kinds of mechanical monstrosities. The sky darkened and a mechanical groan of agony was let out in the background.

" _When you could live, HERE?"_

A dark cloud then transitioned on the screen to reveal a blue background where a red wolf in green boots and green gloves was standing there shrugging.

" _You're probably asking yourself 'don't I need clean air to live?'"_

A question mark appeared over the wolf's head before the scene transitioned again.

This time it went to a cute little caterpillar against a greenish background. It let out a light cough to which puffs of smoke came out.

" _Why of course you don't. Not with_ _ **Doctor Eggman's**_ _all inclusive_ _ **robotomy treatment**_ _that is!"_

The words came up on the screen as he spoke them.

 **ZAP!**

An electric sound was heard and ripples came across the screen. Now, in the caterpillar's place was the mighty sandworm, which let out a mean growl.

" _Perks include,"_

The scene then transitioned to a clipboard that read along the top, **NOT TO DO LIST.**

" _Never having to eat…"_

 **EAT** was added to the list and ticked off.

" _Sleep…"_

 **SLEEP** was added to the list and ticked off.

" _Or think ever again!"_

 **THINK** was added to the list and ticked off.

One of the Eggpongs was now staring out at the screen.

" _That's what we call living the good life!"_

The robot then had a smile on its face at that.

The scene then transitioned again, this time with a whole crowd of Eggpongs happily waving towards the screen, the Eggman Empire logo was in the background as it slowly zoomed out to show more of them.

" _Come live in Doctor Eggman's Empire and begin your new life; where the possibilities are…_ _ **INFINITE"**_

The scene darkened a bit as the masked one, who they now knew as Infinite appeared behind them, looking menacing as he glared out at the screen.

" _You'll love it!"_

He paused for a moment and then added, " _Love mandatory."_ to which the words appeared along the bottom of the screen.

The scene then transitioned back to the Eggman Empire logo where it read, **JOIN THE EGGMAN EMPIRE TODAY!** As the catchy, old timey infomercial music started up again. **[1]**

The resistance stood in their base of operations looking up at their massive screen where the music continued to play out to them.

Sonic crinckled his nose in disgust. "Ugh… what is that trash?"

"Eggman's been broadcasting this garbage propaganda ever since he took control." Knuckles explained. "Everything that airs these days is Eggman produced."

"TV run by Eggman? What kind of shows can there be from a guy who has no tastes."

Everyone in the room laughed at that.

Knuckles continued. "While some of these shows can be rather… _questionable._ A lot of them meet their goal of lowering morale for people all over the world and that's not good."

Celeste was confused by that. "But why would TV do that?"

"It's a power play, dear." Rouge answered. "People spend far too much time sitting around, staring at the TV that it can have an effect on them."

"Okay, so does that mean we go in and smash some TVs?" Corvin grinned as he punched his first into his open palm.

Amy shook her head. "As much as I would love to see you all destroy people's personal possessions, that's not what this is about."

"Television can affect a lot of people." Silver said. "You think it's bad now? In the future, it's even worse."

Knuckles shook his head. "The fact that you people have such a universal way to waste your time works to our advantage in this case."

"What's on your mind?" Vector asked.

"Since Sonic was defeated, the world has been losing more and more hope." Knuckles stated. "But now we have him here and the world needs to know that Sonic is alive. And what better way than to broadcast it on live TV for the entire world to see?"

"Well, it's better than that crap that Eggman shows, that's for sure." Vector said.

Gadget looked confused. "But how are we gonna get Sonic on TV?"

"I'm glad you asked. Rouge?" Knuckles grinned and then gestured to Rouge.

Rouge looked at Amy and nodded. A world map appeared on the screen in place of what appeared to be Eggman eating cereal while Chaos, Zavok, Metal and Shadow were break dancing in the background and Infinite was spitting rhymes about the Eggman Empire It was odd.

"Knuckles already told you that Eggman has control over all the airwaves and uses that to broadcast his agenda all over the world. But what he hasn't told you is and how and where he does it from."

The map shifted and zoomed to show an area represented by a few futuristic looking buildings as well as the logo of the Eggman Empire sitting over it. Underneath, it read "Metropolis."

Vector's eyes widened and he shook his head. "Oh no! That's suicide! No way are we goin' to Metropolis!"

Rhythm nodded. "I agree. We can't just storm into Eggman's stronghold just for this."

"Afraid of a few blasters pointed in your direction, Vector darling?" Rouge mused.

"I ain't afraid of nothin'" The crocodile huffed as he crossed his arms and looked away from them.

"And you shouldn't be. The airwaves aren't monitored out of Metropolis, but an external facility on the outskirts of Metropolis. It's where all the magic happens for him."

"If we're able to get in there, then we should be able to hack the airwaves and broadcast our message to the entire world." Amy smiled.

"That's why we're sending in a team to this facility in order to take care of it." Knuckles smiled. "Rouge has a chip that will hand over control of the airwaves to us and she's gonna need a team to escort her inside."

Rouge nodded. "I'll take Beta Squad with me to take care of it and how about the little cutie that saved Sonic yesterday."

Celeste flushed at that. "Uh… who me?"

"Sure. You look like you can fight. Why not help us out on this mission?" She smiled.

"Uh- well, yeah. Sure. Okay." Celeste agreed, albeit a little shakily.

"Then it's settled, the six of you will head out to the facility and take care of it." Knuckles confirmed.

"Sounds like a plan." Sonic beamed. "But y'know Knux, I don't do interviews."

"And that's why you'll be doing what you do best, saving the world." Knuckles confirmed.

"Oh?"

"I thought to myself, what better way than showing you off to the world than by showing you in your element?"

"I like the sound of that!"

"So after looking at how things are going all over the world, we found that with all the work we've been putting into Sunset Heights, we might actually be able to retake it."

"We're retaking Sunset Heights?!" Celeste gasped.

"Yes. Phase two of the plan will be retaking Sunset Heights. Espio, Silver, I'm not sure why but the world has taken a particular liking to you two and has looked to you guys to take Sonic's place. Can you guys start a fight and take on some of the Death Egg Robots with Vector?" **[2]**

Espio and Silver nodded while Espio patted him on the back. "You can count on us, boss."

"Charmy, you'll work the camera, recording everything in Sunset Heights."

"Okay, so if Espio and Silver are busy being bigshots then what about, me?"

"You're gonna lay low for a bit." Knuckles states. "But when the time comes, I want you to go out and do your thing, be as big and showy as you usually are and make sure the world knows that Sonic is alive."

Sonic smirked. "I like the sound of that."

"Alright then, any questions?"

Celeste spoke up. "I want to be on the team to save Sunset Heights!"

Knuckles frowned at her. "No, rookie. You have your mission, you're going to the facility near Metropolis."

Celeste frowned. She was ready to agree, but she found herself shaking her head. "No!"

"What?!"

"No!" Celeste repeated, catching herself off guard. But she continued. "Sunset Heights is my home! My entire life is there, if someone should save it then I should be on the team that does it!"

Knuckles just shook his head. "Listen rookie, you're new around here and that's fine. But when I tell you that you're on this mission then you're on this mission."

"But-"

"That's an order! Got it?"

Celeste glared at him, to which he returned with his own scowl. The others looked concerned at her. She was pushing her luck and she knew it. To stand up against Knuckles the Echidna like this was suicide; but she did it anyway.

It was just that Sunset Heights was her home, she was born and raised there and to see it fall was unbearable. She had been so scared before but she wasn't now. She wanted to save it and take her home back.

Knuckles still stared her down, waiting for her to falter.

She was acting like a child and everyone could see it. With a sigh, she buckled under. "Okay. I'll go to the facility."

"Good." Knuckles smirked, satisfied that he had won the battle.

"Amy and I will be back here to be inspirational. You won't have as much support on our end, but I think you should be okay. Rouge knows where you're going and the battle for Sunset should be a sinch."

They all nodded and gave their affirmatives.

"Now, let's save the world people!"

They all ran off.

At the docking station, Celeste grabbed onto Sonic's arm before he could get into the ship.

With wide, childlike eyes, she looked at him and told him, "Please save my home, Sonic."

Sonic was a little taken aback by this. He didn't expect it from Celeste, but there she was. He gave her that winning smile that the world knew him for. "I promise."

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Celeste watched out the window as they flew towards the facility. The land stretched out beneath them in a blur as they continued to fly. Over cities and forests, deserts and oceans, it was a long way to go to Metropolis but she supposed that with how long they'd been flying they would arrive shortly.

Rouge took to herself, occasionally conversing with Fierro about what the facility was like and what they should look out for, Corvin and Rhythm were as chatty with each other as ever still talking about the Death Egg and all, Gadget sat next to Celeste not saying much except for occasional mumbling over what was in the first aid kit.

But after the umpteenth check of the kit, the wolf looked to the younger dog and decided to break the silence. "Celeste, are you okay?"

Celeste looked away from the window at her new friend and sighed. "I'm fine. I just… I really wanted to help out the others in Sunset."

"I know what you mean. Sunset's my home too. Or well, it's become a home to me. I grew up in Megalo Station where everything is always so chaotic and crazy everybody's always running around and things are so busy. But when I went to SHU everything was so calm and the view was incredible. Sunset is my home and I hate to see what's happened to it."

"Then how are you okay with this?"

"I've been in the resistance for months now." Gadget admitted. "Sometimes we're not where we want to be with everything that's going on. Sometimes that's because of orders and sometimes it's just because just can't be where we need to be."

She sadly nodded.

"I know it hurts not to be saving Sunset but we've got a job to do at this facility. And we've got nothing to worry about, Sonic and the others are like superheroes, they'll be able to save Sunset no problem."

Celeste smiled. "You're right. Thank you, Gadget."

The wolf smiled back to her. "Of course."

With that, the two fell into light conversation; Corvin and Rhythm eventually joined in as well. It was a pretty lighthearted flight after that.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

When they opened the hatch, day had turned to night, it was as if they were in a gigantic city with buildings higher than the eyes could see. Bright spotlights waved all around and there were all kinds of advertisements for places like "CLUB SPIN," "AGES" and all kinds of things. They all couldn't help but look in awe at the great sights despite the dancing caricatures of Doctor Eggman all over the place.

"I could jam to this." Rhythm commented at the bopping music sounding all around them.

Suddenly a pole came out of the ground with a metal sculpture of Eggman's head on top of it, a little intercom was in the mouth that had a little intercom in the mouth.

Eggman's voice boomed from the PA. "Come one, come all to the grandest place in The Eggman Empire! Here is where the magic happens as we broadcast everything live for everything you can see and what more can you expect from one of the best ideas your righteous ruler could come up with, _**STUDIOPOLIS ZONE!**_ "

"Studiopolis, huh?" Corvin smirked putting a hand on his hip.

"So cool!" Celeste gaped.

Rouge just shook her head. "Yes… it's very pretty. But we have a job to do, children."

"I'm older than you." Fierro deadpanned.

Rouge looked at her and smirked. "And I outrank you."

Fierro scowled at that, but followed after the bat as well, they were off through the massive city that was Studiopolis Zone.

"Our best course of action would be to go along the rooftops." Rouge continued. "I don't like the idea of dealing with whatever traps Eggman has on the ground."

Fierro nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Gadget just shuddered. "Heights… great."

Celeste gave him a light smile before they made their way up onto the rooftops.

As soon as they made their way on top of a building, a bright spotlight shone down on them to which they had to cover their eyes for a moment to adjust to the brightness.

When they were finally able to adjust they could see a horde of enemies making the drop on them, a whole carton of Eggpawns and a colony of these bat like robots and these strange floating ball enemies with a few balls spinning around them.

"Looks like we've got trouble." Rouge mused. "Guess we should've known for Eggman to be up to his tricks."

"And looks like he brought some of your family along, Rouge." Corvin joked.

Rouge flew up to one and sent a harsh kick into it, breaking it apart. "That is not one of mine."

And like that, the battle began.

Rouge took to chasing after the odd camera bat Badniks, breaking them to pieces.

Gadget was on some of the Eggpawns, firing his small plumes of flame into them, roasting and toasting them into submission.

Corvin took to his gear and brought Rhythm along with him, riding along the fray as she swung her massive hammer into whatever might come their way.

Fierro took to pouncing on her enemies rather than busting out her void wispon just yet. She made her way around the building punching and kicking her way through it all.

As for Celeste, she had her short electric wispon at her side and snapped her whip into the robots around her.

Having improved, it was almost a dance for her as she spun and twirled a path of destruction in front of her.

Sparks flew and parts scattered about as the resistance fighters continued to demolish the robots around them, but as they continued to fight, more appeared to take their place.

They were everywhere.

"We need to get out of here!" Fierro called out as one of them fell apart under her fist. "There are too many robots, we'll be overwhelmed."

Rouge sent another kick into one of the bat badniks and agrreed. "Fi's right. I hate to fight and run but this is getting us nowhere."

She flew off to which the bats followed her.

"Welp, thanks for coming out everyone. But Air Corvin is making its departure." Corvin added as he veered his board in the direction that Rouge went.

Fierro was already off and running herself.

Gadget and Celeste looked at one another and shrugged before running off.

They skipped over the tops of buildings as they chased after them.

They went over a few buildings but the robots were still on their tail. Fierro had decided to skid to a halt and turned back to the horde of robots. With that, she drew her wispon and with a single click, a massive ball of energy came out of her wispon. They were gathered together and destroyed.  
She smiled at that only for more of the swarm to come at them, making her turn tail and run again.

"That didn't work!" Celeste called out as Fierro caught up with the group.

"No kidding!" Corvin yelled.

Fierro took charge though. "Rouge, how far are we from our destination?"

"Not too long now." She pointed off in the distance. "There's a pathway leading down to the central control room. That'll be where we make the insertion."

Fierro nodded and stopped again. "Betas together!"

All of them, Celeste and Rouge included looked to her, confusedly.

"We're standing our ground here, clear up all the enemies and then proceed to the control room."

"But there are so many of them!" Gadget shouted.

"Then we watch each other's backs." She insisted. "Just go wild on them and make sure that we're all standing together. If we can keep this up long enough, my Wispon can recharge and we should be in the clear."

"Our little ace in the hole." Rhythm mused. "Where would we be without the void?"

"Dead." Gadget answered. He put a hand to his chin in thought before adding, "Or worse."

"That's how the world is these days." Corvin patted him on the back.

"Alright, Fierro. We'll follow your plan." Rouge nodded. "Just make sure that Wispon of yours is ready." She then put gestured to herself and added, "We're dealing with precious cargo here after all."

Fierro rolled her eyes while Celeste couldn't help but chuckle at the bat's antics.

But they turned regardless and faced the horde of enemies.

Lights!

Camera!

Action!

They were on the scene and the leader of the group was first, diving into the first of the Eggpongs and ripped it to pieces

One of the bat Badniks tried to go for her but Rouge was quick to fly into it and destroy it, Rouge went after more of the flying robots to which a couple of Eggpongs were getting ready to fire at them, but Gadget was quick to scorch them.

While Gadget was focused on roasting some Eggparwns, some of the spinning Badniks had approached him from behind. But that was until Corvin and Rhythm came by. She jumped off of his board and swung her hammer down, turning the robots to cubes before Corvin revved up his drill and destroyed them.

Smirking, he flew by, ready to get into another fight. But of course, that cockiness is what made one of the bat Badniks be able to advance upon him. But of course, blind spots don't matter too much when you've got friends to watch your back. Electricity flared in the bat's direction and broke it into pieces.

He looked to Celeste who was whipping at all kinds of Badniks like a maniac and gave her a thumbs up before quickly covering her six by ramming into some advancing Eggpongs.

Rhythm swung away at the one of the orb bots advancing on Corvin, like a baseball bat.

Fierro pounced on another Eggpong again as Gadget burned away at an oncoming bat bot.

Rouge was able to take out another Eggpong about to fire on Gadget.

And it went on like this for some time. They continued to fight on in the spotlight, taking on more of Eggman's forces.

And then, there was the sound of a freshly charged void wispon coming into play.

Fierro grinned at that and called out to the others. "Everybody stand back!"

The others scattered at that, ducking for cover as she fired on them, the massive blast of energy washing over the bots, bringing them together and crushing them in the black hole.

They were destroyed and with that, the others gave out sighs of relief.

"Glad that's over." Celeste breathed. "They just kept coming and coming."

"This place is too much excitement…" Gadget added. "I should've just stayed at the base."

Celeste lightly patted him on the back.

Corvin laughed and leaned on his friend's shoulder. "And miss out on all the fun? You can do that on your own, buddy."

Corvin grinned at him to which the wolf smiled back. Rhythm couldn't help but laugh at Corvin's words as well.

Rouge approached Fierro. "Nice plan there, I see why Knuckles made you the big boss of your little crew. You did a good job out there."

"Thank you. But we've still got a job to do."

"Right. We have to keep going, let's go everyone."

With that, they continued onward and very quickly they got on the final path to the end.

Running down the path side by side, Rouge, Celeste and the Betas were feeling pretty good and that was great.

"Just down this path and we'll be there." Rouge said.

"Almost there everyone. Good work!" Fierro exclaimed.

And then a familiar figure flew through the air as they were running towards their destination.

And all of them had their blood run cold at the sight. The black fur, black clothes, silver mask and the pulsing ruby gem tipped them off exactly who it was as he took off in front of them.

"Infinite!" Celeste cried.

But he did not respond to her cry with words, but instead with the blinding glow of the gem on his chest and the sound of distortion ringing out all around them.

When the light cleared floating before them were a whole pack of these strange multicolored robots, each one was different. All of them were spherical in shape with simple metal arms and legs but then they all had their own function.

The first of which was a blue one decked out in a police outfit with a star badge, alarm atop its head and everything. It hovered in front of them on a jetpack while toting a heavy looking bazooka on its shoulder armed to the teeth with multiple rockets for it to use.

The next one was the simplest of the bunch and green in color. It wore scarf around its neck that flowed in the wind. It was meditating in the air in front of them and had a dangerous blade sheathed on a compartment on its side.

Another was yellow in color and decked out in magician with a tophat of the same color and a flowing magical cape. It didn't have a weapon like the others but waved its hands around to give an air of mystery like an actual magician would.

Then there was a purple one which was decked out like a knight complete with the helmet that even had a feather on the top of its head. It rode atop one of the classic motobugs with the ladybug print unlike the sleek and silver ones that Eggman had been mass producing for his Empire.

And wrapping up the group was the largest one. It wasn't massive or anything but definitely dwarfed the pack. This one was red in color and decked out like a king with gold trimming and the design of a crown on its stomach. It brandished a scepter and looked down at them with a certain air of authority showing that he truly was a titanic monarch.

Infinite put a hand to his chin in thought as the robots surrounded him. "Interesting… the doctor never informed me these… Hard Boiled Heavies? Yet I seem to remember them. No matter, they will do for your destruction. I am needed elsewhere."

He made an Infinity logo with his hands before there was a ripple of the red energy from his chest that went into the robots and with that he flew off.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Celeste was shocked and scared at the sight of Infinite right here in Studiopolis. But it looked to her that he disappeared as soon as he appeared and left them with these strange robots.

Hard Boiled Heavies he called them?

She gave that the name definitely sounded like Eggman.

But now she had to face the one with the police themed heavy since the others of the bunch seemingly disappeared from view. Now that was bizarre.

She looked to the others to comment only to find that they too were gone.

Great.

Infinite and his strange powers probably split them up somehow.

She could worry about these things later though, right now the Heavy Gunner glared her down and was prepared for battle.

The machine looked down at her with its piercing red eyes and gave her a salute.

"Officer." She returned the gesture.

It didn't reply and instead flew up on its jetpack. She followed its flight path until it was behind her and with that, it hefted its gigantic rocket launcher on its shoulder.

 _Oh crap!_ Celeste thought as she broke into a run and the explosions started behind her.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Gadget was still trying to get over his mortal terror over the fact that Infinite himself had appeared before them. That was twice in less than twenty four hours and he was just about ready to die at that.

But he had to put on a brave face since it looked like he was all alone with the green robot now.

It stared him down before whipped out his blade and aced him.

"Great…" Gadget deadpanned. "The most dangerous guy on the planet shows up and now I'm facing off against a robot Ninja. Could it get any worse?"

With a mighty swing of the blade, the Heavy Shinobi sent a wave at white energy that Gadget jumped out of the way of.

Gadget gaped at the Heavy looking between it and where the energy blast had struck that was now frozen solid in ice.

"I spoke too soon."

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Rhythm didn't like this change of tune this mission was taking. But she didn't mind the funky music that seemed to come with the Hard Boiled Heavy. Part of her wanted to break out and dance, but she had the Heavy Magician to deal with here.

The thing had given her a final tip of the hat before it took out a deck of cards. With that, it shuffled it between its hands doing all kinds of crazy card tricks before it finally held out a hand to her.

"Not bad." She clapped.

And then, it happened.

The thing took the hand and threw them at her at incredible speeds.

With a shriek, she jumped out of the way of the attack as they pierced the ground where she stood and stuck there.

"Now that's a magic trick I don't like!"

The magician took out another deck off cards and tried to go for her again.

She jumped up and over them again and landed in a crouch.

"Alright, that's it! Your act is cancelled!"

With that, she took out her hammer and ran towards the Heavy magician.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Corvin and the Heavy Rider were staring each other down. Corvin had his board at his side and the rider Sat pretty proudly atop its motobug.

The two riders stared each other down and then it was time to race.

They both took of down the path at incredibly high speeds.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Rouge and Fierro were actually the only two that were together in this case. But they couldn't see any of the others.

Fierro sighed. She really didn't want to be stuck with Rouge.

But with the king twirling its scepter around at them like it was a baton they knew there was only one way out of there.

"Well Fierro, looks like the two of us are going to have to work together to take on this bad boy."

The cat sighed and nodded knowing the truth. "Right."

"Who knows? You might learn something from one of the pros today."

Fierro raised an eyeridge at her in annoyance but said nothing.

The Heavy King finished his opening stance by pointing his scepter out at them to which they both got in battle ready stances.

And with that, the electricity surged out towards them.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Celeste was on the run from the studio police. **[3]**

She screamed as she had to run as fast as humanly possible from the Heavy Gunner firing an entire battery of explosives at her. As soon as she lifted a foot off of the ground one of the many rockets would find themselves there.

She was gonna tire herself out eventually, she had to think of a plan quick, but with so much going on that was going to be impossible.

Her eyes darted around the path looking for just about anything and that's when she took notice of the buildings all around her. The place had all kinds of neon signs and the like that were jutting out of the buildings around her.

If she could get off the ground with her grappling hook, then maybe she could try and surprise the thing by getting the jump on it from above.

Risky. But worth a shot. She didn't really have any other options at this point.

She thrust her hand out towards one of the _CLUB AGES_ signs to which the metal wire came loose and struck on the sign. She shrieked as the wire carried her to the sign before she used it to come onto another even higher above.

Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by the Heavy Gunner who tried its best to follow her movements and hit her, but her grappling was too fast.

When she landed on the second sign that's when she hung off of it, not daring to look down but could spot her opponent rocketing towards her.

Quickly, she thrust her hand towards it and out came the grapple propelling her into the Hard Boiled Heavy that she kicked in the face, knocking it into another one of the building.

Using the grappling hook she staggered to the ground and smirked. The Hard Boiled Heavy had gone sunny side up.

And that's when a rocket came out of the hole it had made in the building.

Celeste had some choice words for the robot at that, but did the first thing that came to mind and grappled out of the way.

This ended with her clinging to the side of the building as it used the jetpack to race towards where she had been.

Using that she tried the same trick again and grappled onto it, only this time taking out her wispon and giving it a swipe of the electric whip.

The robot sputtered and clanked for a moment and she thought surely that was the end.

But it stopped and glared her down again.

It fired again and she yelped. This time, she blindly lashed her whip out at the oncoming missiles.

It managed to hit each of them and while most exploded just there, one actually deflected off off it and went straight back to the recipient to which the robot looked wide eyed.

It was destroyed in an instant.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Gadget was all over the place trying to dodge the icy slices from the Heavy Shinobi.

He ran around like a maniac running and jumping and dodging over the relentless swipes from the green heavy.

It was a good thing that no one was really around because the amount of screaming the wolf had done would've knocked out most people's lungs at this point. But Gadget still carried on and yelled to his very heart's content.

And the robot made chase too, jumping wherever Gadget once was, so that didn't make it better.

With everything going on, the poor wolf didn't even have time to pull out his wispon, so it was only evasive maneuvers for him.

But that's when things got interesting for him. The Heavy Shinobi had been right on his tail, jumping so fast as if it were appearing and disappearing from sight.

But something interesting happened when Gadget approached a wall and had to turn in the opposite direction.

The Heavy Shinobi had arrived as usual but swung only to find its sword lodged into the wall and freeze on contact. Gadget looked at it and saw it struggling to pry itself free, but to no avail.

Gadget grinned and used that time to take out his wispon. He fired the usual burst of flame at it and it began to sputter and spark for a moment, but the blade was set free at the same time. It was back to the jumping around again.

Gadget knew that he could try the same trick again though and that was exactly what he did.

The thing sputtered and sparked once more and just when Gadget thought it was over, it came back at him again, this time it took to a different method. Like a spinning top, it spun around and around the icy energy coming out and around it in a wave.

Of course, being the coward he thought he was, he reacted fast. Gadget jumped up into the air and grappled onto one of the buildings only to come down again, attacking with yet another shot from the Wispon.

The Hard Boiled Heavy sputtered and sparked and exploded into nothing.

Gadget let out a sigh of relief at that.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Rhythm went in swinging only to have to quickly duck away from a full deck of trouble when the Heavy Magician went on the attack again.

She dove to the side only to tuck and roll and break into a run as it continued to fire at her.

But soon it ran out of cards again and did the thing where it needed to shuffle again.

She advanced only to backpedal again when it started throwing agan.

Rhythm grit her teeth in frustration. No matter what, the Heavy Magician was always able to reshuffle its deck before she could club the thing with her hammer. She had to get close somehow while it was still firing away at her.

And that's when she remembered her grapple, use momentum to her advantage.

So when it fired at her again she was swinging from wire to wire like Tarzan. It was a blast. And then, she flung herself towards the Heavy Magician as it tried to reshuffle, swinging down on it hard.

Like the other heavies, it sputtered and clacked at that but managed to get back on track. Reshuffling its deck and fired on her again.

But using the same trick, she was able to get it a second time.

The Heavy Magician started shuffling again but looked at her and decided to toss the playing cards aside, not bothering to fight her that way.

Rhythm didn't waste time and charged it only for it to take off its hat and reach inside in that classic magician fashion.

At that very momemnt a flurry of mechanical doves came out of the hat and flew at her. Rather than be scared she just went in swinging.

The Heavy Magician just continued releasing the doves while she slowly made her way through.

But soon she closed the gap and with a final, heavy swing she punted the robot into the air where it exploded into a pile of scrap metal.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Corvin and the Heavy Rider were racing around like maniacs.

Corvin tried his best to try and get to the Heavy Rider and destroy it but it made sure to keep him away with that mace that it had on it. He had to jump and dive and veer his way away from each and every one of the shots from the spikey ball of doom.

And it just kept going and going too.

The bird scowled at the machine who simply continued their onslaught of attacks on him. Everytime the mace came at him, he had to dodge in some way, shape or form. And it was a pity because with all the tricks he did to evade it, it would've been cool if someone saw. The life of an underrated gear rider sucked.

When the Heavy Rider took another swing at him, he didn't have much to do and made a hard stop.

The Heavy Rider ended up racing far ahead of him at that. Corvin was about to punch it and catch up, but that's when he noticed he had an opening to the robot's exposed back. A chance he knew he couldn't miss.

So quickly taking out his drill wispon, he fired away at the robot.

He met it head on and the robot began to spark and sputter.

He grinned and reared around to attack it again before it had the chance to recuperate.

He hit again and was able to get it a second time.

He tried to get at it one more time, but seemed the robot was able to get back on its feet pretty quick.

This time it faced towards him and charged at him, swinging its mace up above its head and prepared to strike him. Of course, he was the same with his drill at his side.

They were like two jousters back in the middle ages prepared to duel one another for a kingdom and with this mission at stake, it meant all the world to Corvin.

So that's how he went charging towards the Heavy Rider.

They both swerved around each other in fear of hitting one another only to veer around and go for each other again only for the same thing to happen.

So what did Corvin do?

He decided to jump off his board, letting it zip past the Heavy Rider to which it looked confusedly at the board, giving him the perfect time to rev up his drill and charge into it on foot.

It exploded into a fiery ball of metal as the momentum from the wispon sent him right back onto his gear to which he breaked and looked triumphantly at the destruction with his hands on his hips.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Rouge and Fierro split up only to find that the thing was able to split its blasts of electricity into two deadly beams of death. They too ran around in an attempt to join their pursuer but he was relentless in trying to get them.

The electricity came down in powerful streams of energy that scorched left a long scorch mark in its place.

Rouge and Fierro knew they needed to take on the Heavy King somehow, but they couldn't get nearly close enough as it attacked the two of them at once. So what were they to do?

They weren't sure. But they had to work fast.

"We have to get to that thing!" Fierro shouted.

"No kidding! How do we expect to do that?!"

"No idea! You're the _professional!_ I was hoping you had an idea!"

"Well... "

She was stumped at that one to which Fierro was slightly satisfied.

So they just continued running for a while longer as they both tried to analyze the situation. All that electricity was no good and keeping them away from the massive robot. There was no way they could get close with all of that. They couldn't do anything.

But it was the electricity that gave Fierro a bit of a risky idea.

"Rouge!"

The bat eyed her, not daring to stop.

"Come to me! We're gonna cross paths but whatever you do, don't stop running."

"Alright!"

The two did exactly that and passed one another.

When they did, the two streams of electricity met each other head on and caused an explosion that left a bit fog in its wake.

The Heavy King was surprised at this and cautiously peered into the fog to find the two resistance fighters. He fired random shots of lightning into it hoping that he would hit them.

What he didn't expect were two fists to come out of the smoke and punch it square in what would've been its jaw.

He was blown back and landed on one foot, convulsing a bit like the other heavies before him.

Rouge and Omega tried to rush him again only for the king to regain his composure and fire two balls of electricity at them.

This time, it tapped its scepter on the floor and balls of electricity appeared swirling around him. He pointed his scepter at the two of them and the balls of energy rushed towards them both.

They both ran away only for the balls to follow after them.

Rouge however decided to take off into the sky and flew alongside Fierro. "Follow my lead!"

Fierro nodded as the bat sped up and she followed after her.

The two went round and around the room, the balls of death still keeping up with them at every single turn.

The Heavy King put a hand on its hip and watched them. His chest puffing as if he were laughing.

But then they started running in his direction to which he was surprised.

He tried to jump out of the way. But they met him instead, with Rouge swerving over him and Fierro sliding under, leaving the balls of electricity to slam into him and causing him to sputter and clank once more.

They tried to get him one more time, but he was able to jump back on both feet again.

The Heavy King tossed his staff aside and began to radiate pure electricity.

It floated in the air and fired off the balls of electricity at them. This time they didn't home in, but they still had a hard time avoiding it.

And with the electricity surrounding his body they couldn't attack. Unfortunately, they didn't have weapons like all the others. What were they going to do?

And that's when they heard a click and realized Fierro did in fact have a weapon. It was now fully charged and ready for destruction.

Taking careful aim, she fired at the Heavy King and it was enveloped in a black hole, turning to nothingness.

Rouge and Fierro cheered giving each other a high five.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

They all destroyed their heavies at the same time, and when they did reality returned to normal. They could all see each other now and were in a large room with a simple, but large flat screen TV that read EGGTV along the bottom. It was split into multiple views of all kinds of different channels with Eggman propaganda, Sonic's defeat all those months ago and more weird programs and ad like the cereal thing from earlier. The screen had a console below with all kinds of big colorful buttons and the like.

All of them looked around and let out sighs of relief at the sight of their friends. Looks like it was all over.

Rouge smiled at Fierro. "I've gotta hand it to you, Fi. You weren't half bad out there. I can definitely see why Knuckie chose you."

Fierro smiled. "I can definitely see why they call you one of the world's greatest treasure hunters, you've got some nice moves."

The two smiled at one another to which the others looked confusedly.

It was kinda obvious that the two didn't get along too well so to see them compliment one another happily was shocking to them.

Rhythm was the one who spoke up. "You too are being friendly? Everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, sure." Rouge smiled.

"Never better." Fierro agreed. "Let's just say being faced with a homicidal robot can be a bonding experience."

Corvin laughed. "Ain't that the truth?"

Everyone laughed at that.

"At any rate, looks like we're here." Rouge announced. "This is where the magic happens."

"Glad to finally see the end of this place." Gadget sighed. "I am never coming back to this Studiopolis place ever again."

"We did it!" Celeste cheered.

Rouge then approached the console and pulled out a flashdrive that had the resistance logo on the side. She scanned all the colorful buttons before she found what she was looking for. She smirked and carefully placed it in the port

Turning back to the others, she smiled. "We're live."

 **[1] For those of you who don't know, this was a Sonic Forces commercial made on the social media. When getting ideas for this fanfic, I figured I could rewrite it and use it to introduce Eggman's broadcasts nicely.**

 **[2] In one of these interviews for Forces, it was in fact confirmed that the world views Espio and Silver as heroes in Sonic's absence. Now that wasn't shown in the game so I've decided to use that fact to put them in the spotlight for this operation. The world loves Silver and Espio so open with them and then surprise them with Sonic's dazzling return.  
[3] I have no regrets for any pun except this one. I am so sorry. Lol.**

 **And we're done with part one.**

 **7,000 words? That's longer than I thought. Didn't even think I'd hit 5K with this one. But hey, I did it!  
How'd you like this one? This part and the next one was one of the things that actually inspired me to start this fanfic. And it was great. Next time, we'll be in Sunset with Sonic and co. So until then,  
R&R**


	9. Chapter 8: Reviving Hope Part 2

**I'm still alive! I am so so sorry this is late everybody. First, finals got in the way, then my laptop broke (and it's still broken) and I put a lot of focus in the last month to work on a personal project so I've just been super busy and I am so sorry. This story is still going strong and I wanna see it to the end. It's not an excuse and I'm sorry, but yeah. That's why I was away. Hopefully now, we'll return to our regularly scheduled monthly updates.**

 **Now let's answer some questions.**

 **SpiderDom321: Thank you as always, my man. The decision to include Studiopolis was fun and I figured it would give more of a connection between Mania and Forces so I went for it. Plus, had to have a little Hard Boiled Action in Studiopolis. And there are other reasons that Studiopolis is here that you'll see soon.**

 **Alexandria Prime: Yep! Went for TV because I figured in a world dominated by Eggman he would exploit the heck out of the airwaves and with that, I needed a way to broadcast that Eggman was back and got the idea of Studiopolis. There's more to this inclusion though.**

 **CryInDollHouse: Haha, thank you. As for our boy Shads? Gonna have to wait a while for that. But needless to say, I have a plan.**

 **Infinite's Ruby, bajy and stardust1470: Thanks so much for the continued support.**

 **At any rate, we finally got to the chapter that convinced me to actually start writing this story. I love what goes on in this one and I really hope you guys do too.**

 **Sonic Forces  
Chapter 8:  
Reviving Hope Part 2- A Hero's Return**

Sunset Heights was as it always was, an absolutely breathtaking city bathed in the sunset. Unfortunately, the view was largely ignorable due to the robots of all kinds of shapes and sizes parading the streets. But the greatest threats had to be the Death Egg Robots, towering high above even the tallest of buildings. People kept indoors as they hoped that the buildings they were in were neither stomped on or fired at by the deadly lasers.

Silver, Vector and Espio were crouched on the roof of one of these buildings, with Espio having to keep a hand on both of his friends in order to keep them camouflaged.

The resistance had already hacked the cameras in Sunset long ago. They were just waiting for the right time to strike.

Soon, a Death Egg Robot marched in their direction and knew what to do. Espio stopped cloaking them.

The Death Egg Robot was immediately alarmed at the sight of three well known resistance members in its sights.

Anybody wielding a wispon was a low priority threat. C-Ranked. They were still careful to take care of them, but definitely not worth the time unless they had caused destruction to Eggman Empire robots. But if you were one of Sonic's friends? That was an S-Rank threat whether it were Sonic himself or Cream the Rabbit, they all had a huge bounty on their heads.

So it was no wonder that the Death Egg Robot began charging its laser at the mere sight of the three of them.

"Let's go!" Silver shouted as he thrust his hand out to deliver a psychic knife towards the Death Egg Robot. It managed to shatter the glass but no much otherwise.

"Vector, now!" Espio called out.

He nodded.

Espio jumped up into the air and landed on top of the Crocodile's open Palm, he then threw him up into the air.

With that done, Vector quickly dove off of that building and tucked and rolled on another. It hurt and he got a few scrapes, but otherwise he was okay. Nothing that couldn't be cleaned up from a quick visit to Cream and Vanilla.

Espio was in the sky with his hands up to his shoulders before he lashed out, firing a barrage of kunai down on the Death Egg Robot which caused some of the exposed wires to crackle and spark.

Silver raced up to where Espio was and surrounded him in his energy, giving the Chameleon a Psychic push that plunged him into the Death Egg Robot.

Like a hot knife through melted butter, he sliced clean though and landed on the ground in a crouch as the thing began to malfunction.

People who were in houses already started looking and cheered at the falling Death Egg Robot only to cry out in fear when the robot started falling towards the buildings.

"NO!" Espio shouted.

But Silver was on the case, grabbing the behemoth with in his psychic grip causing it to glow with his aura and stay in place. He struggled and things only got worse when a swarm of Buzzer Bombers came towards him.

Espio didn't waste a single second and fired off more of his projectile weapons making sure to destroy as many as he could but a few got through.

Just as they were about to fire on him, Vector jumped out and fired a bunch of music notes at the remaining ones and landed safely next to Espio.

"EVERYBODY CLEAR!" Silver shouted.

Vector and the others nodded and quickly ran to another street.

Silver released the Death Egg Robot and threw up psychic barriers on the buildings that kept them safe from harm and left the robot to crumble in the streets.

People cheered for them while he flew to rendezvous with the others.

"SILVER! SILVER! ESPIO! ESPIO! SILVER! ESPIO!"

Silver grinned at them while Espio gave them curt waves.

"HEY WHAT ABOUT ME?!" Vector shouted.

There was silence.

A cough.

Awkwardly someone offered, "Thanks… crocodile… guy."

Vector groaned to which Espio put a hand on his shoulder for support.

Silver took initiative though. "We're doing great. But we need to make more trouble to get the attention of Eggman's forces."

"First let us focus on some of the troops on the ground." Espio said "Once we have this sector is secure, we can go after more of the Death Egg Robots."

"Sounds like a plan." Vector nodded.

They turned down the street to see some Eggpongs and Motobugs approaching.

"FOR SUNSET!" Silver shouted as he burst down the streets.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Knuckles the Echidna had faced a lot of things in his life. He was the emerald guardian and the brave leader of the resistance. He could take on anything the world threw at him and beat it down with his faithful namesakes. But there was one thing that even the strongest of Echidna couldn't face alone and that was a six year old with a makeup brush.

Cream grinned as she continued to apply more makeup to Knuckles' face.

"Oh just wait, Mr. Knuckles! You'll pop right on the screen when we're done with you!"

"Is this absolutely necessary?!" He asked.

"Yes!" Cream chirped as she continued to brush away.

From the side, Amy was applying her own makeup, much less than Cream was to Knuckles.

Other members of the resistance were around and snickered at the sight of Knuckles with so much of the stuff on him. His face was kind of a mess.

To that, he shot them a death glare to which they instantly scurried off.

Knuckles then looked to the smiling 6 year old and sighed. She was having fun at least. Amy looked over at them and finally took control of the situation.

"Cream, you've done a great job." She smiled. "But that's a little too much. We just want Knuckles to pop on the screen is all."

She took a cloth to his face and wiped out most of the stuff. She regretted not taking a picture of him. But at least she'd always have the memory.

She picked up one of the brushes and applied a bit of blush to his face. "Like this, Cream? Very little."

Cream nodded and followed her lead being able to get a bit of it onto Knuckles so that he didn't look like a clown.

But at that moment, a purple gopher ran into the room. He huffed and panted, out of breath but looked up at them. "They did it! They did it! We have a connection to Eggman's airwaves! We go live in one minute!"

Knuckles and Amy looked at each other in disbelief for a moment and raced out of the room, Knuckles with half his makeup done which he quickly rubbed off of his face so that he was clean again by the time he got to the little studio they set up within the base.

It was a simple room with a green screen hanging against the wall and a bunch of TV equipment off of the side. A small team were sitting around the equipment, humans and mobians alike. One of them was working the soundboard, a few were on the computers, some were holding up mics and lights and stuff.

Amy and Knuckles saw all of them and couldn't help but think of Tails who should've been among them, directing everyone and making sure that everything was perfect in only the way he knew how. Of course, he wasn't here and they couldn't look sad on the air, they had a job to do.

One of them, a short green mouse named Sqeauk, held up a hand to them as they were wrapping up. Knuckles and Amy quickly got into position.

"In 5… 4… 3… 2..."

And they were live.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The thriving city of Metropolis was a beautiful place. It was the future of the world with great sprawling buildings of a mostly light blue color. There were walkways suspended in the air where floating vehicles rushed on top of them. But Eggman also left his mark on the city with all sorts of buildings and things in his likeness. The Eggman Empire logo was also everywhere, being strewn across banners and shown on screens.

People milled about living a life of leisure in Metropolis, despite the world being occupied by Eggman. But when you were in the comfiest place in the empire, that was to be expected.

Gigantic screens were all over. Some were advertising products, some were showing the news, others Sonic's defeat, and some those strange ads depicting Eggman eating cereal again.

Deep within one of the tallest buildings in Metropolis stood a red jaguar in a nice dress shirt, shoes and a snazzy looking tuxedo jacket. But no pants. He hated those. But he smiled to himself as he took in the massive city from his luxorious office.

For a strapping business tycoon like Pounce the Jaguar, he didn't mind life in Metropolis at all. He'd grown up in the city and was heir to a business that lead him to extraordinary wealth. When Eggman had invaded nothing much had changed other than having to give Eggman a share of the business and having his logo on a few of their products. His life was fine and that was good enough for him.

He turned back to his desk and looked to one of the television sets showing the stocks. Things were looking up for his business and that was good.

But that's when things changed. Everything went out to static to which the jaguar's eyes widened in surprise.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" He asked.

He pulled out the remote and clicked a few buttons only for the static to still be there. Frustrated, he reached for a button on his desk, about to page in his assistant, a human named Rose.

But then… the static stopped and sad violin music started playing. **[1]** Taking its place was a red star with a smaller red star next to it.

Pounce's eyes widened in fear as he knew exactly who it was. Those terrorists that Eggman kept going on and on about, the resistance.

And it wasn't just in his office. It was all over the city and all over the world.

People were walking only to stop at the sight of that familiar star logo on their screens up in the cities, their television sets, on their phones, tablets and more.

The violin gave one final flourish and with that, Knuckles and Amy faded onto the screen.

"Our world…" Knuckles started. He paused for dramatic effect. "Has been conquered, destroyed and left to ruin by Doctor Eggman."

With that, images of the world were shown behind them, they showed the deserted wasteland that was green hill, the fires of the mystic jungle, the shattered and broken homes of station square and finally ended on the Death Egg Robots in Sunset Heights.

Amy then spoke up. "We've faced many great losses over the past few months."

"Old foes rose up." Knuckles stated as footage of Metal Sonic, Chaos and Zavok appeared.

"We've had traitors…" Shadow using chaos blast on the former resistance base was shown.

Together, Amy and Knuckles looked at each other and added, "We've lost hope." The footage of Sonic's defeat in Sunset was shown.

They allowed that to sink in for a bit before they smiled. "But we haven't lost."

Amy continued. "The resistance was formed to not only protect the world from the Eggman Empire, but to give a helping hand to all those in the world that need it."

"And we've won some battles." Knuckles smiled. At that, some of the better areas were shown. Spagonia for the most part was okay, although the clock tower and Spagonia University had seen better days, Seaside Hill was looking postcard material as always and a city in Soumerica looked happy and thriving.

"But we can't do it alone…" Amy admitted.

"Eggman's Forces greatly outnumber us."

"We need people like you out there to join the resistance and help save this world."

"But that doesn't mean that we are completely outclassed." Knuckles smirked.

The footage then changed to show Vector, Espio and Silver fighting in Sunset Heights.

"The footage you see before you is live." Amy explained, being sure to put extra emphasis on the live. "And it shows the real power that we have as the resistance."

"And with all that power, we have something even greater. Something that this world has been missing for so long."

"We return to you our shining light of hope."

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Sonic the Hedgehog hated waiting. Especially when his friends were roughing it up with Eggman's robots without him.

He could see Silver, Espio and Vector make their three man charge on the screen while Amy and Knuckles were talking. It was pretty deep stuff and he didn't really know either of them had it in them.

With that, Amy said that "We return to you our shining light of hope."

They paused and moved aside to give full view of the action on the screen.

"Well, looks like that's my cue." Sonic grinned.

He looked over at Charmy and said, "Hey, make sure to get my good side."

Charmy chuckled and lifted up the camera and with that, Sonic stepped onto the streets of Sunset Heights.

Immediately, he took notice of the massive balls of fire falling from the sky. One crashed into a building next to him making him slightly jump. But otherwise he was fine. Everything was a wreck. Buildings were in ruins, litter was strewn around the ground, hydrants were busted and spewing water all over the place and even some of the gigantic arches of the Red Gate Bridge were broken. If it weren't for the gigantic robots charging around all over the place, he'd wonder how in the heck, Eggman's forces managed that.

His quick survey of the town saddened him. The last time he was in Sunset, it was still standing somewhat tall and didn't have Death Egg Robots storming around all over the town. But thanks to his loss it was all now in ruins.

But that's what he was here for today, to bring back hope and save the town.

And that's what gave him the confidence to get into starting position, this needed to be big.

"And we're live, Sonic!" Charmy announced.

With that, Sonic said nothing and was quick to start off through the war torn streets of Sunset, with the bee was quick to start after him.

Sirens blared all over the town at that moment, he wasn't sure if that was because of Silver and co. or if Eggman had already caught onto his presence in the city. But whatever it was, he just continued down the bricked roads, ready for a fight if the city was on high alert.

With that, he started boosting down the street as the road turned to another section of town where he could see more of the broken Red Gate Bridge overhead. It was even worse than before with crooked, twisted pieces of metal made out of what used to be a prized landmark of the town bathed in twilight. But now it was nothing more than a dilapidated ruin.

He felt another pang at his heart at that but had to focus. He found it strange that there were no enemies yet.

But he boosted up and down a hill only to go under an archway and make a turn into a stretch of road that gave him a good view of more of the waterfront. There, he could spot not just one, but two Death Egg Robots storming about and terrorizing the southern edge of the city, some of the random miniature islands reminiscent of Green Hill and the Red Gate Bridge. And more of those cannons coming down on random parts of the city, it was like a meteor shower.

Sonic didn't like the looks of that, but had his own problems since the turn ran him straight into a pack of Eggpongs.

He grinned, finally something interesting!

He stopped boosting and jumped into the air, just barely avoiding the shots that hit the ground where he stood.

He homed in on the head of the group and was quick to take on two others that were flanking it; making sure to pull off some ridiculous trick between each bot.

A row of four more were next and he homed into the last before stomping on the ground and boosting into the final trio, blowing them into walls and turning them to scrap metal.

With a cheer he boosted down the street and past a barricade where he made his way onto a stairwell and up into a neighborhood.

Things were in just as much in disarray as they were in other places, but at that point, people had started coming out of their houses to see what was causing all the commotion.

Imagine their surprise when they a familiar rush of blue passed by them as it homed into more of the robots while whooping, cheering and all at supersonic speeds. But the only person that could've done that was dead unless…

"HE'S ALIVE!" One of the mobians pointed at him. "IT'S SONIC! SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! HE'S ALIVE!

More and more people came to the realization that he was there and Sonic decided to slow down a bit so they could see his face. They cheered as he grinned at them and gave them a peace sign before boosting off towards more trouble.

He homed into more robots and boosted up an incline only to find himself propelled up into the open air.

For a few short moments, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to feel the wind running through his quills. The rush, the adrenaline and all just coming back to him and it felt incredible. In that moment, he truly realized that he was free and that he was back in the world he loved.

But the world he loved needed saving, so he opened his eyes only to come face to face with one of the massive robots. It began to charge up its laser to which the hedgehog gulped knowing that he was going to fly directly into the line of fire.

Of course, at that moment, Silver raced up so that he was floating both above Sonic and the Robot. He then thrust his hand out so that Sonic was covered in his energy and brought him close by.

"Thanks for the save, Silver!" Sonic grinned at him.

"Sure thing, Sonic!" Silver smirked. He then gestured to the robot. "Wanna take this tincan down?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

Silver grinned and thrust both hands into the air to which more energy gathered around them both. He thrust his hand out towards the robot and like a bullet, Sonic homed into the thing, blasting right through the eye.

Explosions rang out through the robot's very core as Sonic went through.

The gargantuan robot collapsed into a pile of scrap; while Sonic made his way onto the other side of the chasm.

He ended up homing into this purple, ostrich shaped robot. It fell apart as Sonic came out on the other side. He fumbled down the street for a moment to which he frowned. Before, he would've landed that okay. But since he hadn't had a good run in months…

That's when he took notice of the camera again that he forgot was there. In the tiny reflection of the lense he saw that he had his brow furrowed and was looking a tad confused. Not what the people would want to see.

He threw on another smile and continued powering down the street. More of those ostrich robots were there as well. But unlike most of Eggman's robots they ran away from him.

 _That won't do at all._ Sonic thought as the blue aura surrounded him again.

With a boost, he slammed into one robot after the other with ease before he reached the end of the slope and dashed right off the end of the broken road.

Sonic went back into ball form and homed in on the ground below.

Making sure to put a little flair int it, he did a little breakdance to get himself onto his feet to which he found himself in the town square. Only problem was, that he was surrounded by a whole pack of Eggpongs.

But he wasn't defenseless.

They fired on him all at once and jumped up into the air, blue streak trailing in his wake. He made a face and pointed at the Eggpong in front of him before going back into ball form and homing in on him.

The robot broke apart in a heap of scrap and Sonic grinned. Calling upon the boost, mowed into a trio of the bots across from him.

One of the Eggpongs were close to him and attempted to take a swing at Sonic to which he dropped to the floor and swept the bots feet right out from under it. With that, he ducked into a spindash that he quickly found his footing in to dash it out with a boost, which took out another few of them.

Only three remained on opposite ends of the town square. Once again, they fired on him, but Sonic was far too quick. He jumped into the air and did a chained homing attack on the first. Quick on his heel, he turned around and boosted into the second and turned around again and approached the third. This one tried to fire onto him and he jumped into the air and homed into the thing. Breaking it to bits.

Some of the people in the town square started cheering at the sight that their hero was back to which he smiled and waved at them.

 _STHEW!_

Sonic's head immediately snapped in the direction of the sound and immediately his face fell at what he saw. Twin red hot beams of light shot out at a balcony a trio of pedestrians were cheering under.

They cried out in fear at the sight only to be lifted off their feet and brought to safety at what felt like the same time to them. By the time they realized what had happened, Sonic had already homed into the silver Egg Pong and was making a mad dash into the next part of the city.

Sonic was now in an entirely different neighbourhood which he quickly dashed through. He took out most of the robots in his path before he finally made his way onto the rooftops. From there, he found one of the bent and broken pieces of the red gate bridge that he was able to use as a makeshift grind rail and make his way to the next part of the city.

When he made it down to the ground, he was finally making his way towards the sea and to the Red Gate Bridge.

With all the people whooping and cheering all around him, just so elated in the fact that there hero had returned, the hedgehog couldn't help but beam as he continued his trek out of the city. Things were going great.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

"Things are going great!" One of the members of the resistance confirmed to Amy and Knuckles.

They had stopped speaking and had taken to watching most of the footage of the city. Charmy surprisingly seemed to be doing a good job at keeping track of Sonic despite everything. From there, they were able to catch it all in detail.

Most of the resistance that hadn't gone out to battle in Sunset had taken to watch things on the big screen in the main mission room; while those directly involved were huddled around the small screens being used by the team in the operating room.

Most of them were in dead silence watching Sonic, but Knuckles would either whoop and cheer along with the city folk or make note of Sonic's arrogance, sloppiness or both in some cases.

Amy on the other hand couldn't help but get both excited and scared. Seeing Sonic run again was something that Amy didn't know how much she needed. Just the very sight of his legs blurring on the screen was both enough to reassure her and bring a slight flutter to her heart all at once. But then there were the times he would slip up and get into trouble and that sent her right into panic again. Sure, she knew Sonic was one to get into the thick of it, but to see him in the middle of a warzone so soon and after the last time he was in one all those months ago worried her. She continued to watch far more worried than those around her.

But the one that had started earlier continued. "This is going great. Sonic's return has caused riots to start out all over the world! People are resisting the empire!"

The people in the room couldn't help but cheer, even Amy's spirits were lifted.

"Alright!" Knuckles pumped his fist. "This is working even better than I'd hoped."

"United Federations, Efrika, Soumerica, South Island, you name it. All of them are beginning to resist the empire just from seeing Sonic on TV!"

More cheers.

"If we keep this up, we could have an even greater uprising on our hands than we anticipated. I don't think anything could mess this up!"

 _Oh Knuckles…_

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The Eggmobile sputtered and clanked as it clumsily made its way into the pyramid base. Its lone occupant stumbled out of it, his body covered in soot after one could assume a defeated battle.

"Well that was a disaster!" Eggman groaned. "Not only do I have to deal with that troublesome resistance freeing that blue buffoon! But seems that even littler blue buffoon is going to make things even more complicated! I don't suppose this could get any worse!"

At that moment, doors slid open and in ran in Eggman's two panicked henchman, Orbot and Cubot.

"BOSS! BOSS!" They shouted.

"Wonderful…" Eggman sighed to himself before he addressed the two robots. "What do you two want?!"

"Boss!" Cubot cried. "Sonic he- he- he-"

"Out with it you two bit bucket of bolts!"

Orbot flew over and took his place. "Boss! Sonic's back!"

"I know that!" Eggman roared. "The resistance narrowly avoided my clutches just last night! When I get my hands on them, they will be crushed like the pitiful insects they are."

"Well you better do some crushing now, Doc."

Eggman glared at the cube shaped bot. "And why is that?"

Orbot spoke up. "If I wasn't so eloquently interrupted, I would've been able to tell you that the resistance has made Sonic's escape known to the world. They are broadcasting it live in front of the entire world and as such, retaking Sunset Heights as we speak."

"WHAT?! NO!"

"Oh yes."

"HOW WERE THEY ABLE TO SECURE A BROADCAST?! THE ONLY WAY THEY COULD'VE POSSIBLY DONE THAT IS IF STUDIOPOLIS ZONE WERE COMPROMISED!"

And then he thought back. Studiopolis Zone had in fact been compromised. He'd sent Infinite out to take care of it before he had run into his little problem.

"Indeed." Orbot confirmed. "Security footage shows a team of resistance fighters within our broadcasting facility. They made quite the mess of the place."

Orbot pulled out an electronic screen and it did in fact show the mess that was made in Studiopolis Zone.

"Who was on the op?" Eggman asked.

"Six individuals. All Mobians. Fierro the Cat, Gadget the Wolf, Corvin the Bird, Rhythm the Rabbit, Celeste the Dog and Rouge the Bat."

Images of each of them were shown.

"A bunch of rejects!" Eggman shouted. "Rouge though. I should've known if anyone would make their way into the facility, it would be her. This isn't good."

"Indeed. But unfortunately that isn't all."

"Great… what else?"

"Sonic's return has inspired hope within the masses. People have started rioting all over the world. This could effectively loosen our grip on the empire."

Eggman grit his teeth in frustration. This wasn't going well at all. Within twenty-four hours of Sonic's escape, he had an entire mess of problems on his hands. No… no… this wasn't good at all.

But like any good doctor, Eggman had a way to remedy said problems in his empire.

Orbot and Cubot had looked worriedly at their creator only to snap to attention.

"We'll have to organize our forces to show the people that this world is property of the Eggman Empire!" Eggman shouted. "I want my generals sent to some of the world's major cities as soon as possible!"

"Understood boss!" Orbot saluted as the two made their way out of the room.

But Cubot stopped and turned back to him. "But boss. What about Sonic? If he's perspiring people like that on TV then they'll still have their hope."

Eggman smirked. "You don't have to worry about that, my dim-witted friend. I will show the world that their hope is dead!"

"How?!"

Eggman's smirk turned to that of a wide, devilish grin. "DEPLOY METAL SONIC!"

Orbot's visual receptors widened at that, but he nodded. "Right away, sir!"

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The air in Sunset Heights was ecstatic. People had all come outside their homes to see that their hero had in fact returned. Sonic the Hedgehog was back!

Cheers rang out all over the city as the resistance did their job to save it as the empire's numbers declined all over. This was fantastic! Not only was the population of Badniks all over the city going down, but they were doing a number on the Death Egg Robots too.

Sonic couldn't help but break out into his own grin as his feet tiptapped to the rhythm of their cheers. He was out, he was saving the town and soon, it would be the world. The people cheering him on brought such a euphoric feeling for him, nothing could go wrong.

And that moment, cheers turned to shouts and cries for help. Sonic's face fell at that and he wondered what was going on. The panic around him ended up shaking him to his very core as he whipped his head in every direction to see what was causing trouble.

And he found it.

Flying alongside him was Metal Sonic.

Sonic's face fell at the sight of him as he remembered everything.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Sonic the Hedgehog looked out at the great planet Mobius above. He missed it. The fresh air, the grass, the trees and the entire world to run on. They were far better than this cold cramped space that he had called home for the past few months.

But this was his life now. Eggman had told him long ago that the world was convinced that he was dead so he doubted that anyone would come up to free him at this point.

When he had tried to make his escape, the only thing he got were further restraints with the cuffs glowing around his wrists and ankles.

He was at least grateful that he had the company of the other prisoners, otherwise he thought he might've gone crazy in there.

"Nuts and bolts!" Someone called out.

Soon that echoed around the prison in a sort of odd chant as people repeated it.

Sonic knew exactly what that meant though. Metal was here and the only person that Metal ever visited was Sonic.

The hedgehog sighed as his doppleganger approached the cell.

It always went the same, Metal would just stare at him for some undefinable amount of time. Sometimes it was only a few moments, sometimes he could just sit there for hours upon hours on end. Nothing would change for a moment.

And then, his chest would glow and then… it would start.

Usually, it began with the sounds of destruction and lead into people screaming, yelling and all. Chatter from the resistance would play as they scrambled in attempts to try and stop Metal, but one by one they would all fail and he'd hear absolutely every agonizing minute of it.

And it was because of his failure. Those people were left to fend off Metal, left to fail to do that because he failed. He had to listen to this because he failed.

Sonic wanted nothing more than for it to stop, he wanted to cover his ears and make all of it stop. He wanted to break out of his restraints, cross through the barrier and send Metal back to the scrap heap he crawled out of but there was nothing he could do.

All he could do is listen to the horror of it all until Metal eventually got bored and left him alone to mull over it.

Sometimes he would yell, sometimes he would cry. But in the end, there was nothing he could do about it.

In this particular flashback, he could hear his friends voices, Knuckles and Amy, they had failed to fight Metal but had made a retreat. But they sounded like they were in a lot of pain when they did and there was nothing Sonic could do.

When Metal would finally leave him alone, he would note through all of that, he had never once heard Tails' voice on the recordings. It left him more fearful, as that meant that there was still no sign of him since his capture.

When Metal was finally gone, he was left alone allowing the screams to ring in his ears over and over and over again.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Sonic was brought out of his stupor and looked around. He was still in Sunset Heights, he was still running and he was still safe. But two things concerned him; The first was his chromium duplicate, flying alongside him and keeping pace with his second was Charmy Bee giving him a very concerned look and still pointing the camera in his face, within the lens, he could see the concern on his face and realized that he had lost his cool for a moment in front of the entire world. Definitely not the best way to show off his return in front of the world.

So with that, he quickly shook himself off and gave a confident grin. He pointed a defiant thumb at himself and boasted, "What? You think you can scare me with the tincan, Eggman?"

Metal's eye shifted towards him at that, to which the hedgehog's grin got wider.

"Be sure to keep up, Charmy. The world is gonna wanna see this!"

And with that, the Hedgehog boosted down the bridge throwing off the bee's flight path a bit to which Metal quickly amped up his thrust to trail after his adversary and further throw the bee off. But he found his wings and quickly followed after them.

The two Sonics were now side by side, running along at a breakneck pace as blue and purple auras surrounded them. The original continued to grin at the duplicate to which it continued to look at him in its icy glare.

Finally getting irritated, it was Metal who made the first move.

He attempted to ram the hedgehog, only for a loud piercing sound to ring out all around them as soon as their energies collided.

Metal didn't exactly like that and continued to try and ram against him, but Sonic wouldn't let his guard down. Metal Sonic continued to try to clash against his boost aura with his own. The two continued to clash and clash as they made their way along the bridge.

With this stalemate in mind, Sonic decided to surprise Metal.

Sonic immediately put on the breaks, allowing Metal to race ahead of him.

When the robot didn't respond in time, and stopped a little ways ahead of Sonic and looked back only to find the hedgehog boost head first in front of him.

Sonic definitely knocked something out of place. The robot's pupils fizzled as his sparkled and crackled in the air. For a split second, his systems were down.

It stopped and he came back online again. He brought a hand to his head as if he had a headache, but very quickly shook it off.

Metal raced off again and this time floated above and ahead of Sonic.

Sonic looked up at him curiously as his core began to pulsate with violent purple energy. He crossed his arms over his chest for a moment as he radiated with power before finally letting loose.

Orbs of the radiant energy appeared all around metal, glowing menacingly before they fired out at the hedgehog.

Sonic yelped and did his best to dodge them. The first beam of death would've hit him straight in the chest had he not stopped on the dime again. It vaporized the ground before him and created yet another crater in the red gate bridge.

He hopped over it as yet another one of the shots fired down at him again and would've hit where he stood again.

Another came to which he swerved to the side.

He hopped up and over the next and very quickly had to sidestep another. Metal wasn't definitely playing around as the beams continued to come from the glowing orbs around him and he charged up another blast.

But soon, the energy faded, and just before he was able to bring out another, Sonic homed in on the metal menace, hitting home and causing the robot to crackle and spark again as the energy crackled through his body.

Metal took a few more seconds to recharge than he did before, but was able to get back to it.

This time, Metal Sonic came swooping down on him, glowing with the same volatile energy to which he jumped up and over him.

Stopping on a dime, he swerved around and immediately called upon the power of the boost, only to see that the robot had done the same.

They clashed in the center and grappled with each other, fighting for dominance. At this rate, it would be whoever got tired first. Of course, unluckily for Metal is that after six months the hedgehog had a ton of energy to use up and wouldn't get tired.

True to his word, Metal Sonic's processor couldn't keep up and broke the boost to which, Sonic was free to ram into the robot headfirst.

Sparkling and cracking, Metal Sonic was able to shake it off again.

Too bad Sonic didn't give him the chance to fight again, he jumped up into the air and homed into him one final time as he began to charge energy up within his core.

The sheer amount of electricity coursing through him was enough to fry his circuits and left him inoperational. He fell to the ground and as the hedgehog dusted himself off and gave a confident smirk, the robot hit the pavement and exploded into a fiery ball of electricity.

"And that's how it's done!" He boasted.

Sonic had won.

Charmy caught up to him and looked at him, his mouth hanging wide open at the sight that Sonic had taken out one of Eggman's Generals.

"I- I- Wow!"

Sonic took a bow to which that brought on cheers all over the city and all over the world. Sonic smiled at the thunderous applause that erupted from the city before him.

With that, he got up and waved for the camera, but couldn't help but notice Charmy putting a finger to one his antennae before he nodded and approached the blue blur with a microphone.

"Sonic! That was incredible! You defeated Metal Sonic and the resistance just liberated Sunset Heights! How did you come back to us?"

Sonic breathed, this was it. He had to have his moment and make sure he could get the message across. He could do this, talking was easy.

"Well after Eggman did what he did all those months ago, he locked me up in space. But I got out thanks to the awesome people at the resistance. Now I can help clean up the mess he made while I was gone."

Sonic continued. "But just because I'm here doesn't mean that Eggman will back down or go easy on us. It's gonna take a lot of hard work and we're definitely gonna need the help. Join the resistance today and help us take back the world!"

With that, the broadcast changed to Silver flying up to the top of the town's city hall. With a quick wave of the hand, a Psychic Knife was produced that promptly chopped off a large flag displaying the Eggman Empire logo.

Espio then appeared with a flag bearing the Resistance star and promptly put it in its place, to which it waved it proudly waved in the wind. It then faded out to the logo with the resistance star saying "Join the Resistance" in metallic text.

Deep down in Studiopolis Zone, a group of fighters that had made this possible were watching with warm hearts. One of them, a young girl named Celeste looked up at the screen with tears in her eyes and said…

" _Thank you."_

 **[1] Theme of the Resistance**

 **And we're done. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It's been a long time coming and needless to say, the Metal Sonic scene was incredibly satisfying to write, especially to write to his Forces theme. Which is a pretty great remix might I add?  
But let's talk about Metal Sonic for a bit. Metal Sonic is out of the count and officially out of this story. I know what you're thinking, why didn't I do that to big Z? Well… I have plans for him. Metal Sonic though, I knew from the beginning, I wanted him to be the first out not because I dislike him or anything. Oh no, I knew Metal Sonic would be the first to go because of this scene. The goal for Eggman here was to fight fire with fire. I mean, as I had stated, Metal Sonic had been a great threat on the world and didn't take prisoners. Metal Sonic is canon fodder in this fic for the resistance to really have our first victory against the Eggman Empire and as such, taking out one of Eggman's generals along with Sunset Heights is huge and will have very big effects on the rest of the story that you'll be seeing as we continue along. But Metal's time had to come early. As for the others, they'll be playing their parts for a bit longer and I can't wait for you guys to see what I've got planned for them.**

 **But that'll do for this chapter. Also, my document for this story officially hit over a hundred pages for this chapter! Woo! Next time we'll be heading to Green Hill that's lookin' a whole lot more like SAND HILL with the Classic trio. We haven't seen them in about five chapters, so that'll be fun. But until then,**

 **Read & Review! **


	10. Chap 9: Let's Do the Green Hills Again!

**First things first, I wanna say I'm changing the name of this story. Sonic Forces was too lazy and I advised by friends to change it, so now we are "Trials of War: A Sonic Forces Rewrite." I changed the name after the update so that it didn't confuse anyone in their email. But now… yeah. Hope everybody's okay with this change.  
The name "Trials of War" actually comes from whenever I listen to the opening guitar riff in the "Escape From Null Space" version of Fist Bump. The words, "Trials of War" always came to mind when I listen to that part and I figured it'd make a good name for this story so… yeah.**

 **And we're back for another round of Sonic Forces. Good to be back everyone. I'm loving where this story is going and with this, we'll have even more as we return to the Classic Sonic trio, but before we do that we've got another scene and the review replies to tackle, so let's go.**

 **SpiderDom321:  
We'll be seeing an increase in the resistance very soon.  
As for Metal, I'm so glad you enjoyed the fight. I was honestly pretty worried about that one and am glad that it came off well. It was so much fun to write. The Metal fight is what pushed me to write this story in the first place. Although, I mean it when I say don't expect him to return. I currently have no further plans for him and am pretty adamant as keeping him as the first step. But maybe… I might change my mind.  
Hope to please you with this chapter. Thank you, it's always a lot of fun to hear your thoughts.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw:  
I hope to please with this chapter.  
Thank you so much for your understanding. I really appreciate it.  
I'm glad you love the Metal fight! And as for others, I can't wait to dish them out and write them.**

 **Infinite's Ruby:  
Thank you! And hey, don't worry about it. I'm always happy to see reviews from you.  
Thanks so much. I'm glad you all really liked the Metal Sonic fight, like I said with Spiderdom321, I was pretty worried about it. Like I said, Metal was such an important scene and I'm glad he did well.  
Oh yes, things are definitely going to begin to start changing in the world. Our first foothold against the Eggman Empire, now will we sink or swim?  
I hope you enjoy what I've got this time.**

 **Tekina Fiction:  
First, it's good to see you on this story again. We already talked, but I just wanted to say thanks again.**

 **Alexandria Prime, bajy and** **Raila Tatylrye** **: Thank you!**

 **And a huge special thanks to Alexandria Prime for being my fiftieth review for this story. Fifty reviews! Woo!**

 **Sonic Forces  
Chapter 9:  
Let's do the Green Hills Again! **

Eggman hovered down to the very bottom of the prison, grumbling as he did so.

In just the span of a few hours, everything had gone wrong. Sonic had been broken out of prison and the resistance was on the rise. It was only a matter of time before Sonic would get to work at dismantling his empire. Things were not looking up for him and he was going to have a wonderful time with all of these new developments.

But right now, he had a mess of an alliance to deal with in the hulking form of a Zeti that was lying at the bottom of the pit. Things had always been dicey for their little alliance, that was for sure. But they always managed to have a united front. But the amount of insubordination Zavok showed on the Death Egg that night was unacceptable.

Eggman landed his pod on the bottom next to the passed out Zeti and hopped off of the pod, his feet making a light clank on the cold metal floor.

As soon as he got a good look at him, he knew exactly what to do.

In record time, the doctor reared back and gave a swift kick to the red behemoth's side causing him to immediately shoot up from his position and let out a loud roar at the struck.

His eyes darted around to look for the offender only to find none other than the scowling face of Doctor Eggman to which he put on a scowl of his own.

Tentatively, he offered, "Good morning, Doctor…"

"Good morning!" The doctor chirped. "Did you sleep well? You must've had quite the rest after you were pummeled by the blue rat, thrown into one of the force fields and sent falling twenty storeys. And all because you couldn't follow orders! How does it feel?"

Zavok furrowed his brow and glared at him. "I made the decision that was best for the good of the empire! We had Sonic in our grasp for six months and you decided to let him rot here in containment where he only seemed to get stronger!"

"You mean, you made the best decision for yourself. I had the perfect plan that would have made us gain the upperhand on the Resistance. We could've captured their leader and those so called heroes that the rabble have been looking to. We could've made public examples out of them, showing them what the Eggman Empire is capable of! But no! Instead, you were selfish! And that selfishness has lead to the enemy regaining the greatest asset that they could possibly have against us!"

"And what if I had succeeded?" Zavok snapped back. "We finally would've been rid of Sonic! You would have been free of your greatest adversary. You should be thanking me for what you so clearly do not have the strength to accomplish!"

"And that's not the point!" Eggman retorted. "You know full and well that Sonic was going to be destroyed once my empire was complete. With his escape, he'll be tearing it down piece by piece. All we've worked for is now threatened due to your rash behavior!"

"Accusing me for poor judgement when you yourself continue to show the same yourself only further brings your poor leadership into question. I have half a mind to take this empire for myself and give it the rightful ruler it deserves!"

"So that your Lost Hex no longer falls under protection?" He questioned. "Off me, fine. But you know full and well that Infinite is only loyal to me and will make sure to act on you and your people accordingly should something go wrong."

Zavok glared at the doctor again, to which he turned away from him and chuckled. "Or perhaps you're not fit for the empire at all? I have half the mind to remove you from your position and act on your insubordination right now."

"You wouldn't!"

"Four of the Zeti may be able to hold their own against me, sure. But what of dear old Master Zik? Do you really think that he'll be able to stand against the might of the empire even with your protection? Are you confident that the remainder of your pitiful race will survive the might of the empire, let alone Infinite?"

Eggman turned back to him to see that Zeti's glare had fallen. Sadly, the Zeti shook his head and bowed to him. "I apologize emperor, this won't happen again."

"Good." Eggman nodded.

At that moment, the others appeared. Metal flew in, Chaos slunk towards them and both Shadow and Infinite appeared in their respective flashes of light. Shadow and Infinite gave each other nods before looking to the dictator.

"What is our next move, Doctor?" Shadow asked.

Eggman sighed but spoke as he started to climb on his Eggpod. "The resistance is soon to make a move now that they have Sonic back with them. Each of you will be sent to some of the world's capitals in preparation for their interference. Do not engage or even make your presence on earth known until I say otherwise. Infinite, you're with me, we need to talk."

Infinite nodded. "Of course, master."

Together, the rulers of the world walked to the hangar where they would return to the surface.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

Bright blue skies, large rolling green hills and sand everywhere? But this was Green Hill Zone.

It didn't make sense to the smaller Sonic as they stood atop the elevated checkerboard platforms that would've had water lapping up against them as the sun beat down. But the water was drained from the place, leaving large checkerboard rock formations scattered about along the sand.

There, Sonic, Tails and Omega walked, looking around at the faded memories before them.

"This is Green Hill Zone?" Sonic asked confusedly as he looked over the edge of the platform they were on, down at the sandy dunes below.

Tails gave a sad nod. "It is. Or at least, it was. When Eggman took over the world, he completely drained the place of all its water. It's been like this ever since."

Sonic frowned. "That's messed up. Eggman can't ruin one of my favorite spots like this!"

Tails felt a pang of pain at that, remembering that Sonic had reacted the same way when he had seen what Eggman had done to the zone. He gave the smaller Sonic a sad smile.

Classic returned with his own concern. "Tails… buddy? Did I say something wrong?"

Tails couldn't help but feel another pang of guilt at being called buddy. But he shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. It's just… Sonic said the same thing and now he's…" He chocked. "Well… you know."

Sonic couldn't help but look down at the ground as well.

"I failed Sonic and Eggman's monster got him... Now he's gone and it's all my fault."

Sonic looked up at him and shook his head. He put his hands on his shoulders and stated. "It doesn't matter. I'm here now and I'm not letting anything else happen to the future."

"But Eggman's monster-"

"Is gonna be toast. There's always a way remember?"

Tails still looked down at the ground.

"Hey, I'm here, buddy. And we're gonna make it through."

Tails looked up at Sonic and smiled.

"Y-you're right. We still have to keep fighting. We have to get to my lab down in the Mystic Ruins and fast!"

Sonic grinned. "That's the spirit, come on!"

With that, Sonic dashed off through the grassy plains ahead.

"WAIT UP!" Tails shouted as he and Omega quickly chased after him.

So with that, Sonic, Tails and Omega raced off through the Green Hills.

Sonic couldn't help but smile as he accelerated ahead of them, despite the fact that the place was now devoid of the calm blue waters that he knew, the familiarity of the place put him at ease after everything he had seen in the city the day before.

In just the span of a couple of days, he had gone from helping his Tails investigate strange readings on Angel Island to chasing after Eggman and his Ruby delusions to well… this. He was in the future now and the future had taken the absolute turn for the worst. Eggman had won and apparently his future self was dead? He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that the world had gotten this bad. But he was there, running through these Faded Hills with Tails and Omega, trying to save the world.

But now he was in a familiar place and couldn't help but feel a bit relieved at that. Whether or not Eggman had taken it over, Green Hill Zone was his territory. _His._ He always came running here, he always loved this place. And so he knew that he could take on whatever Eggman may have had there for him.

So with that he peeled out and ran up striped grass and past checkerboard rocks, letting out a proud smile as he did.

Tails couldn't help but feel elated at the sight of that. When they were together, Sonic never ran too far ahead and seemed that this rang true even with his younger self, as he kept a few feet ahead of him and Omega. Always, looking back to be sure that they weren't too far behind.

It was Sonic. He was really back, even if it was his younger self, he was so happy to have him back in his life. For the first time in what seemed like months, Tails really did believe that things would change and that they could stop Eggman. He wasn't alone in the world anymore and they could help turn things around.

It may not have been his, but Sonic was alive. It meant the world to him.

" **Incoming hostiles."** Omega droned, sending both of them out of their reprieve.

They looked ahead and true to his word, a pack of Eggpongs stood ahead of them. They had their blaster's trained on the trio and were ready to take them out.

Sonic couldn't help but smirk at this as he jumped up into the air and over their blasts, touched down and rolled into the group, mowing them over and leaving two behind, all without getting out of his ball form.

Tails slightly backpedaled at that. Never in his life, had he seen Sonic do that before. At least he didn't think so. He racked his brain, trying to think of a time, but couldn't recall. He wondered when he had picked that up.

With a smile, Sonic couldn't help but grin as he got out of his uncurled and began running ahead again. He loved drop dashing, it never failed. He looked back and saw that he missed two and called back to Tails and Omega. "Those two are all yours, guys!"

Tails once again snapped out of it and looked up just in time to see one of the Eggpongs fire out at him. He yelped and jumped up into the air, barely missing it before he quickly ran at it and swiped his namesakes at the thing, turning it to scrap metal.

Omega on the other hand, took his out by changing one of his hands into gun form, making quick work of it as bullets tore into the shell of the Egg Pong and leaving it to fall apart.

More robots came their way and they were taken care of with either a homing attack, a spin or drop dash, advanced weaponry or some tails. It was great.

Quickly, the trio found themselves on a rickety old bridge that looped down, deep into the caverns of Green Hill.

Gone were the little flecks of grass as they now stood atop eroded checkerboard rock, some of which jutted out of the ground all around them. A few rays of sunlight flickered down through the bits of cracks in the cave above.

Tails and Omega had a little bit of a hard time getting through, having to stop every now and again to make sure they didn't go face first into the rocks ahead of them.

Sonic didn't stop though, continuing on and dodging each and every one of the rocks ahead of them, weaving in between each and every one of them without need to stop as he always did when he was here. Each and every footfall he took were those ingrained in his memory from the multiple trips he had taken there.

Very quickly, they found themselves out of the cavern and were greeted with the warm light of the sun again. Unfortunately for them though, they were also greeted with a pack of robots ready to spoil their fun.

A Roader approached, trying to bulldoze him down to which the little blur grinned. "Alright, let's party!"

Sonic jumped up into the air and homed in on the Roader, making quick work of it before drop dashing into an Egg Pong nearby.

Tails and Omega exited the cave only for one of the Buzzbombers to fire at Tails, just grazing him when Omega pushed him aside.

" **Destroy all Eggman robots!"** Omega bellowed as his arm transformed back into a gun and he fired at the Buzzbomber and tearing it to shreds.

Tails let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Omega."

At that, A Roader came speeding towards the two of them to which Tails jumped in front of Omega. Turning around, the fox quickly began spinning his tails in the direction of his foe. His tails acted like a fan and quickly sent it off course and into the wall where it crumbled into nothing.

Tails smiled at this and began flying up into the air while Omega took out one of the other Eggpawns.

Meanwhile, Sonic was spindashing on the ground, weaving in between blasts from a bunch of different robots that had their sights on him.

He first rammed into an Eggpong and used that to change his course and hit into a roader after that, he jumped up into the air and took another Buzzbomber.

When he landed on the ground, he couldn't help but smirk while dusting his hands off.

That is until a laser whizzed past him, just barely missing him to which he let out a yelp and staggered back. He looked in the direction of the blast, just in time to see Omega fire at the thing and tear it to shreds.

He gave the robot a thumbs up. "Thanks, big guy."

Tails was flying around, dodging shots from the remaining Buzz Bomber before finally getting up close and personal. Using his speed he elbowed it into the rock wall, causing it to fall apart on the ground nearby.

With that, the enemies were clear and they were able to rest easily at that and continue on their trek. Of course, more of the robots got into their way, but nothing could stop them.

Soon, the trio fell into a walk as they continued along the green landscape. Sonic and Tails fell into idle chit chat as they walked down one of the checkerboard roads.

Soon, they heard the strong rush of the gentle thrum of an engine in the distance.

The trio looked in the direction of the noise only for them to spot the Eggmobile, flying right towards them.

Sonic immediately stood his ground, fists clenched and ready to fight. But Tails didn't let him, quickly grabbing him by the shoulder and having them duck behind the rockwall next to them.

Sonic glared at Tails at this, to which the kit sadly shook his head, keeping his hand on Sonic's shoulders to keep him grounded.

Sonic sighed and stayed put.

Carefully, he, Tails and Omega peeked out to see Eggman land in the middle of the checkerboard road, sitting in his Eggmobile for a moment.

Sonic and Tails looked to each other confused at this.

Suddenly, the sound of distortion rang out as a flash of light appeared. Out of the flash, Infinite stood looking at the doctor with his arms crossed. Immediately, he kneeled before him.

At the very sound, the blood of the two hidden organics ran cold.

For Tails, the very sight of Infinite brought back terrible memories of his surrogate brother being beaten into the ground all those months ago, his helplessness, his cowardice and the lack of closure towards Sonic's fate as he ran and never came back.

For Sonic… it was much different. It was a sound that he was far too familiar with, having jumped from Angel Island all the way to the future thanks to that sound. But it couldn't have been possible that it was still here. Right?

But one look at the gem embedded on the jackal's chest confirmed his worst fears.

That thing was controlling the ruby somehow and he knew that whatever had happened to make the two end up together, it must've been the cause of the trouble in the world.

Tails protectively held a hand out to both Sonic and Omega's chests, making sure that both of them stay put as to not do anything they may regret, leaving Sonic to furrow his brow and watch the two speak.

"Infinite, what happened last night?" Eggman asked.

The masked one hung his head in shame. "Master, please forgive me. I had the resistance right where I had wanted them but those meddlesome Chaotix had intereferred before I had the chance to strike."

Eggman shook his head. "You were too focused on the task at hand, thereby leaving yourself to be open to attack."

"Yes."

"Never put too much focus on one single thing when on the battlefield! If not, you'll be sure to lose."

Hand to his chest, he bowed his head and pleaded with him. "Master, please forgive me!"

"You are forgiven. But understand that despite what the world believes, you are not invincible. The next time you let your guard down and allow an attack to get through, it could be fatal and I may not be there to save you. Do you understand?"

Infinite nodded. "Of course, master. It will not happen again."

"It better not. Between you, Zavok and Shadow, Sonic was allowed to escape with the resistance. We cannot allow something like that or worse to happen again."

Sonic and Tails gasped at that.

Sonic, or at least, the older one was alive!

Eggman heard this and looked at their hiding spot, scanning the area for any signs of trouble but didn't see anything, deeming the sound just his imagination.

"Infinite, your confidence in battle and the power of the Phantom Ruby is good. We still need that to keep control. Just understand that you cannot allow another slip up."

At that, Eggman's console beeped, alerting them both. Eggman looks down and turns it off before eying Infinite again. "Now's your chance to prove yourself again. We have a security breech in Studiopolis Zone. See to it and report back to me when the threat has been neutralized."

"With pleasure, master."

With that, the ruby on his chest glows and the sound of distortion rings out again before teleporting him away.

The doctor then brought a hand to his chin in thought. "Now… what should I do about Sonic…"

At the mention of his name, the little blue finally had enough and broke out of his hiding spot, too quick for Tails to grab him.

Making a mad dash towards the doctor, he leapt into the air, locked on and crashed into the glass hull of the Eggmobile.

Eggman was shaken to his very core by the attack, knowing the feeling all to well. His Eggmobile had been struck by a homing attack, leading him to believe one thing. Sonic was here already and wanted to get revenge. But there was no way Sonic could've found him so quickly.

He got his answer when the familiar blue ball landed and formed into his nemesis. Only… well he was absolutely shocked at what he saw.

Standing before him was Sonic the Hedgehog with his hands on his hips and his usual cocky smirk. Only… It wasn't a Sonic he had seen in years save for the one occasion a year prior. His lighter, sky blue fur, his pudgy stomach and coal black eyes revealed what he was. It was the younger Sonic!

Eggman was absolutely astounded at the sight. "Wha-What?! But how?! How are you?! What are you?!"

"Really? You're the one that sent me here, Doc. The Phantom Ruby, the Heavy King and now here I am!"

"Sonic!" A voice called out and both of them turned to see Tails and Omega step out. "Don't go running off like that!"

"Great… not only do I have a pest from the past to deal with but now I've got two previously obsolete targets right on my front doorstep."

"Well, if it's true that the older me escaped then it looks like you're havin' a real bad day, ey doc?"

Eggman growled. "Which is why I don't have time for this nonsense."

With that he pressed a few buttons on his Eggmobile and it began to hover into the air. "You three are more trouble than you're worth right now and I'll deal with you later. Tata!"

With that, Eggman flew off into the distance.

"You're not going anywhere!" Sonic shouted.

He dashed off after him, hopping atop the stone pillars at a breakneck pace.

"Sonic, wait up!" Tails called after him as he took off into the skies.

The trio was off, chasing after Eggman.

"Hey, Eggman! You're not going anywhere, buddy!" Sonic shouted.

Eggman looked back and let out a tsk at the sight of the little blur coming after him. "Can't you see I'm busy?! If you want to schedule an appointment with the emperor, I suggest you talk to Orbot."

"I don't know who that is, but I do know that you're messing with the Phantom Ruby again and have put the world in danger. So I'm gonna have to crash the party!"

"There you go again with the Phantom Ruby. How do you even know about that?"

"I saw that Infinite guy with it, so talk!"

Eggman frowned. He knew that Sonic wasn't going anywhere, no matter what he tried. He almost forgot that he was even more annoyingly persistent in his preadolescence than he was now. He was gonna have to fight. But the Eggmobile wasn't exactly his most combat ready, machine. If he was going to fight a Sonic, any Sonic, he was going to need something far more destructive.

Luckily, he was close to one of his largest factories, so getting things together would be a sinch. He quickly typed out commands along his console while he flew. An Egg Dragoon would be the perfect tool to eradicate the three of them. But it would be a bit before it would get to them, so he needed to preoccupy them.

They were now along a stretch of land that lead off a steep cliff into the desert below.

Eggman turned the Eggmobile around and faced them.

All three came to a stop and looked at him as he let out his usual evil laugh before pointing at the trio.

With that, a large, spinning buzzsaw fell out from the bottom of his Eggmobile causing them all to scatter.

"So you want to know about the Phantom Ruby ey? Well, such power exceeds even my expectations! Ha! My own genius scares me sometimes."

Tails looked up at him as he chased after Sonic. He couldn't help but chuckle and snark, "That means you miscalculated. That's a failure in my book."

Eggman growled at this as he swung down at Sonic and missed again.

"To surpass expectations is the ultimate of genius! I wouldn't expect you to understand."

With him distracted by Tails, Sonic took the opportunity to hop atop one of the totem poles and then hopped off to land on top of the Eggmobile.

It shuttered a bit at that, throwing its occupant off and glaring but continuing his attack, wildly swinging around at both Tails and Omega.

"So rotten old Eggman bit off more than he could chew again?" Sonic asked. "What are you doing with the Phantom Ruby?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, you little brat?"

With that, they continued to fight, the three heroes dived and dodged each and every swing that he brought out.

Omega would fire shots at the eggmobile, Sonic would home into it and Tails would do his best not to get shot at.

But quickly, after one final blow from Sonic, the chainsaw broke off, leaving Eggman defenseless.

Sonic beamed at this. "Alright. It's over, Eggman!"

With that, he began to run at him only for the ground to shake around him, causing him to trip and fall flat on his face.

He looked up as he heard Eggman laughing hysterically. His mouth immediately hung open at what he saw.

Rising from the ground was a massive looming shadow of the Egg Dragoon rose onto the scene and Eggman flew into position on it. When the hull came up he flexed his fingers on the controls as he beamed down at them with his new advantage.

"What were you saying, Sonic?"

"You mean I have to fight the big thing that older me fought on our birthday…"

"That's right!"

Sonic's face of fear turned to one of excitement as he hopped to his feet. "AWESOME!"

"Sonic this is crazy, you're not strong enough to take on an Egg Dragoon yet!" Tails shouted.

"Just sit back and watch, Tails."

With that, he wagged his finger and dashed off to which the Egg Dragoon and the other two quickly followed after, making chase and trying to catch up with the over excited preteen.

The Egg Dragoon started off the fight by firing off a volley of lasers at them, short concussive shots that tore into the checkerboard path they were running on and made a mess of the place.

Quickly, Omega and Tails were able to catch up to him, while narrowly avoiding the shots from the massive machine.

"Took you guys long enough." He laughed as he ducked under a shot.

"Are you crazy?!" Tails asked.

Sonic laughed. "Haha! Come on, Tails. Don't tell me you lost that adventuring spirit, we do this sort of thing all the time!"

Tails frowned a little at that, but that went unnoticed as he turned to the hulking machine next to them.

"Hey, tincan! Mind giving me a lift?"

Omega turned to him, still running ahead and staring blankly at him.

"Throw me into the tikis and junk so that I bounce off and hit the Egg Dragoon, got it nuts 'n bolts?"

In response and without warning, Omega grabbed the small hedgehog and stopped dead in his tracks, taking position, while Sonic curled into a ball from where Omega held him.

" **Preparing optimum trajectory! Fire!"**

With that, Sonic was thrown into the air, bouncing off of tikis before he finally hit his target, landing in the hull of the Egg Dragoon, causing the robot to sputter for a moment.

Eggman growled as he was able to get the controls back on his side again.

Quickly, he got back to firing back at the trio while they scattered again, avoiding all the shots that he fired from the barrel of the mech.

"Urg… you've got a lot of nerve for a pint-sized Sonic from the past. Still this Egg Dragoon has only lost 10% of its combat strength."

Tails, jumped into the air, flying away from some of the many shots and pointed at him. "You're lying."

"You won't have quite long to find out."

"Come and get some, Eggman!" Sonic grinned.

He jumped back up into the air and landed in Omega's grasp who threw him into things again that ended with him landing the hit, further frustrating the doctor.

This time, he decided to switch tactics and changed the mod he used on the Dragoon.

With that, the thing instantly fired a stream of ice around them, forcing the trio to scatter once more, making sure not only to avoid the spray and to not slip and slide on the ice.

Soon, Eggman had to recharge the ice, which gave Sonic enough time to use a slope to spin dash up and hit into the Egg Dragoon one more time.

Switching again, he took to using the drills and began firing off drills at the three. More and more pieces of the ground broke apart all around them when they dodged the drills, hitting thjings every single time.

But Sonic was quick to get to Omega with one final hit, the Egg Dragoon finally fell apart at the seams in a flurry of electrical explosions.

But to their surprise, a radiant glowing stone flew out of the Egg Dragoon and into the instinctively outstretched hand of Sonic.

"A Chaos Emerald?" Sonic asked surprisingly.

"What?! No!" Eggman roared. "That Emerald is not for you!"

"Come and get it!" Sonic proclaimed, as he stood proud and tall, clutching the luminous stone in his fist.

"Urg… fine! Keep the emerald, but know that I'll be back for you and the entire resistance, sooner or later!"

With that, he flew off.

Sonic and Tails cheered at this as they high fived one another, even getting Omega in on it too.

Soon, the cheers came to a stop as they finally calmed down. The trio discussed the events that just unfolded.

"We just got Eggman!" Tails announced. "We took him on all by ourselves and we won!"

"Heh, even after taking over the world with the Phantom Ruby, his butt is just as easy to kick."

"Yeah!" Tails smiled. But that quickly fell as it soon dawned upon him. "Sonic… you keep talking about this Phantom Ruby."

"Yeah, y'know the big gem that that Infinite guy had on his chest. It has the power to distort dimensions or whatever. I dunno you used a lot of sciency words when you to explain it to me and Knux."

"Right…" Tails said, still sounding confused.

Sonic looked confusedly at him, to which the fox quickly regained his composure.

"The Phantom Ruby, I'm gonna have to uh… dig up my old notes on it, make new discoveries so that we can figure out to defeat Infinite."

"And I'm sure you'll figure it all out. You always do, buddy."

With that, the two started walking off. "So what's the plan now? We've made our way through Green Hill and got a long way till we get down to the Mystic Ruins."

"Well… Eggman mentioned a breech in that Studiopolis place. "

"I know that place!"

"You do?"

"Sure, remember? I wasn't there too long ago with you and Knux."

Tails, still confused, nods. "Right. Of course. Well… it might be a good place to check out. After all, if you really are alive and he just got a breech in Studiopolis then it's bound to be you, right?"

"Sounds exactly like me."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Together, the trio ran off through the Green Hills and towards Studiopolis Zone. They still had a very long way to go before they reached their destination, but as they continued off, two of them couldn't help but wonder why Tails had been so offput by the Ruby and Studiopolis.

 **And we're done, this took a little longer than I thought it would, but we got it. So we did it. Not much else to say accept next time, we'll be with our other two main characters in somewhere entirely new along with a few other surprises. Oh also, I should note that we're not gonna see Green Hill for a long while in this story, I'm saving that for a major event later on. Should've said this earlier, but the same can be said for Chemical Plant, Death which I should've said during their respective chapters. But oh well… Can't wait to get into it, but until then R &R guys. **


	11. Chapter 10: Ground Control

**Let's go for another chapter of Trials of War. I wrote Sonic Forces at first, man that's gonna take some getting used to. But I'm sure I'll get it. Anyway, this time we'll be having some fun surprises in this chapter. But rather then spoiling them, let's get into the review replies and then the chapter.**

 **Infinite's Ruby:  
Yep, Eggman and Zavok aren't happy campers. Their relationship is so much fun tonight and it's only going to get even more crazy.  
I'm glad you're liking Sonic and Tails, like I said, the game had a great idea with pairing them together and just didn't use it to its fullest potential and writing them together like this is both a lot of fun and very satisfying. The excitement at the Egg Dragoon and the Omega high five were some of the most fun as well.  
I'm glad you're loving it, man. And oh… I'm hoping you're gonna love this chapter because I'm super proud of it.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw:  
Differences in dimensions? Whatever do you mean? Sonic and Tails have no idea what's going on and we're just gonna have to wait and see what that'll bring. Glad you noticed and liked protective Tails because that's important. I too hated Tails portrayal in Forces and I have so much planned for his arc in this story. Just gotta stay tuned. **

**Alexandria Prime:  
Thank you! And lol, yeah. Glad everyone seems to love his reaction to the Egg Dragoon, had a lot of fun with that.**

 **bajy:  
Thank you!**

 **SpiderDom321:  
No worries, pal. You're all good.  
Yep, because **_**SOMEBODY**_ **wasn't a team player, Sonic was able to escape. If it weren't for Zavok, Eggman could've captured several key players in the resistance right then and there, but nope. I'm glad you loved Eggman & Zavok. Their scene was so much fun to write and expect more tension between them.  
Yep, the Egg Dragoon fight was a lot of fun and both Tails and Omega's actual involvement is super important to this story. Especially since right now, Sonic and Tails are on the way down to the Mystic Ruins to fix Omega.**

 **As always, you're the best, SpiderDom and I really appreciate your encouraging words and thoughtful reviews. Thanks so much! I really hope you like this chapter as much as the others.**

 **Trials of War  
Chapter 10:  
Crowd Control**

For Shadow the Hedgehog, working on the field was always one of the hardest parts of being in the Eggman Empire. But a job was a job and he had to do what he had to do. Of course, luckily for him doing what he had to do didn't really mean doing much of anything most of the time.

Yes, people ran in fear as he strolled his way down the streets casually tossing an Emerald in hand without a single care in the world. Occasionally, he had to shoot a glare at someone or something so that they wouldn't cross his paths but otherwise, it was simple walking.

After the fallout of Sonic's escape, he and the remaining generals were deployed to major areas around the world to control the situation. Luckily for him, he had been sent to the capital of Spagonia and with it being a mostly human populated area, it was easy. Most Mobians, even those with powers or weapons wouldn't dare oppose the ultimate life form, so those as powerless as the humans wouldn't think twice as they saw the Hedgehog walk down the streets.

He honestly preferred it this way. He hated getting his hands dirty like this and hated the fact that the world was in so much danger. Maria would've never wanted this.

But he knew why he had to, _**Infinite.**_

Ever since that day just eight months ago when he was revealed to him, his whole world had changed. To think that the Doctor was even capable of something like him, something so big, it was unprecedented. Shadow knew he had to get up close and personal with Infinite to do what only he could do and get the answers he needed. That of course meant going against his friends and the world as a whole. Things were just too personal with Infinite to the point that he didn't see another choice.

So that's how he calmly walked down the barren streets of this otherwise pleasant town.

It was when he finally got to the front steps of the university that he stood still, waiting.

It was then that one of the classic Eggpawns ran out and set up a classic Eggman shaped microphone in front of him, giving him the all clear to speak.

He looked to the windows of the houses all around him where he could see the terrified eyes of people, young and old looking out at him. His eyes snapped shut at that, looking away for a moment before shaking it off and continuing.

"Citizens of the Eggman Empire!" Shadow barked. "I am sure many of you are terrified at the events that you saw unfold on air yesterday. The Eggman Empire was dealt a heavy blow yesterday when those terrorists known as the resistance took over our airwaves, brought destruction to Sunset, massacred one of our generals and brought Public Enemy Number One back into the world to destroy everything our glorious emperor has worked so hard to accamomplish! But know this, the Eggman Empire is not defeated, not yet. We will fight back with everything we have and make sure that these terrorists are brought to justice."

Every single word stung. He didn't believe this garbage, but knew his job and knew it well. If he wanted to get to Infinite then he had to play the stone cold, obedient general of the Eggman Empire and he hated every minute of it.

Just two nights ago, when he and Sonic were on the Death Egg, he was relieved that he had finally found a way to escape. Zavok's stupidity had ended up working in his favor with Sonic out and about. He gave enough chase to make it seem as if he had truly lost to the blue blur and had let him escape. Sonic was free and that was one burden off his back.

" _Sonic will stop you!"_ Someone shouted, snapping him out of his thoughts and the prewritten garbage that Eggman had assigned for him to read out to the town. The voice was clearly that of an older human being but still held a lot of strength and respect to it. It came from the university.

Shadow whipped his head in the direction of the voice only to find himself face to face with a rather stout old man, slightly hunched over and wearing a nice brown suit. He had large bushy eyebrows that drooped down low, almost covering his beady eyes and short greying hair that hung around his face.

But there he stood at the window standing proud and tall while a smaller, younger man in a sweater was frantically tugging at his suit jacket while trying to keep himself out of sight and fearfully eying Shadow.

While Shadow had never met the man himself, he knew the man to be none other than Professor Pickle: a world renowned scientist known for his research on all things mystical in the world, but unlike most, he studied Gaia rather than Chaos and had been especially known for his large involvement during the shattered world crisis two years ago.

Shadow was frozen at the sight of him, unsure of what to do.

"Sonic will stop you!" Professor Pickle repeated sternly.

"Professor, please!" The younger man pleaded.

But the professor continued. "You rapscallions have done more than enough to our poor nation and the greater world at large. And what for? Plastering that buffoon's face on a few flags?'

He gestured up to the waving banner of the university that would have normally been the one of the country but had been replace with one of the Eggman Empire.

"No! No more! Sonic is free and we all saw so just last night. In mere hours he and his friends were able to free Sunset Heights and show the world that we can no longer stand for your tyranny. And if my friend can say no to this then surely we can too."

Shadow's blood ran cold at that, just staring at the old man, fearful. But not for what this could mean. No, rebellion was important and they needed to make a stand. He feared for what he would have to do to this man if he were to keep things up.

But he was able to build up the façade again. Coldly, he said. "Are you done?"

Professor Pickle was slightly taken aback by that. "Well I-"

"Good. Detain him."

With that, Eggpongs came out from the back alleys of the streets, each with their weapons at the ready.

At the sight of the guns, immediately Shadow snapped at them. " _ **Peacefully!**_ This old fool will be of no harm to you."

The robots obliged and their weapon arms turned back to hands and they got Professor Pickle, his assistant and anyone else in the room out of the school and lined them up outside.

"Unhand me, sir!" The Professor shouted as he struggled with his energy cuffs and an Eggpong that had a hand to his back as he walked him away, but to no avail.

The other people, students and teachers alike were escorted into a transport that arrived outside of the city for any prisoners that would shortly be transported to the Death Egg.

Shadow didn't look at them as they were escorted out of the city.

It was hard, but he knew why he had to do it. So long as he got to Infinite, it would be worth it all.

They'd probably be safer on the Death Egg away from it all than down here anyway.

 **~Trials of War~**

"We're not really supposed to go outside…" Gadget told Celeste. "The Echidna don't like it when we go outside of our building, but it's still nice to see what they're up to."

He was right, Celeste looked outside the window and could see the Echidna mingle about. They were such a strange people, what with their tribal wear and old fashioned weaponry, but they were interesting all the same. They walked and talked as if they were in ancient times what with them scattered about drawing water from the river or hunting out in the greater jungles of Angel Island or the few that stood just around the Emerald altar, thrusting their spears in the direction of anyone that came within spitting distance of it.

With everything that had gone on, Celeste hadn't really had the chance to explore the resistance base, having instantly gone to bed after the mission on the Death Egg and the day out at Studiopolis, she hadn't exactly had the time to look around. But Gadget had changed that, deciding she needed a grand tour of the place, taking her all around the base. He showed her all over, the map room, communications, dorms, kitchen and more. The place really did have everything they needed to run their little operation against the Eggman Empire.

"And finally we have the dining hall over here." Gadget said as he gestured to a room filled with fold out tables, chairs and sidebars with all kinds of foodstuffs in them. Several Mobians and humans stood at the food places in hairnets and holding utensils, ready to take orders.

Celeste was just about to respond to this only to be cut off by a loud static noise.

She looked up in confusion only to spot a PA box near the corner of the room.

From there, Amy's voice rang out. "All available personnel report to the map room for new assignments. Repeat, all available personnel report to the map room for new assignments."

"Well, guess we better head over there." Gadget said to which Celeste curtly nodded.

Together, they made their way down the halls to the map room.

When they arrived, they found a mess of resistance fighters around the room with its large map of the world overhead.

Amongst the crowd, Celeste could spot a few familiar faces like Silver and the Chaotix.

At the head of the room she could see Knuckles and Amy with Sonic peering over Amy's shoulder at the map, curiously as she worked and spoke to Knuckles. While this was happening, she spotted red blips popping up all over the world.

The two of them conversed for some time while the rest of the resistance talked amongst themselves.

But soon that stopped and Knuckles quickly tried to get their attention. "Alright… Everyone, settle down."

Everybody was still talking.

"Come on guys, enough talking…"

They still didn't.

Getting a little more agitated.

" _That's enough…"_

And yet, no one would stop.

Finally, Knuckles inhaled, ready to yell at the group. But it was not his voice that came out, but a more shrill, higher pitched voice.

" _ **Everybody shut up!"**_ Amy roared at the crowd causing everyone to stop, staring at the captain of the resistance who smiled sweetly at them and completely changed her tone. "Knuckles would like to speak with you."

Knuckles, who was left completely aghast by this looked at her for a moment with his mouth hung open. "R-right." He cleared his throat. "Okay, so as you all know last night, we had one of our first major victories against the Eggman Empire. Before, we had simply warded off invasions and barely held out own in the world. But now? We actually reclaimed an area. Sunset Heights is now officially protected by the Resistance and Eggman won't be getting his hands on it for a very long time."

With that, the people in the room cheered.

Amy stepped in. "We owe it to all of you for your hard work against Eggman last night, whether it was on the field in Studiopolis or Sunset or even right her in the base, making sure the broadcast was up and running, you all did you're part and we're thankful for the help."

Knuckles nodded. "Couldn't agree more, we owe yesterday's success to all of you."

The resistance cheered some more.

When it finally cleared, Knuckles continued. "But the work isn't done yet. We may have won a battle yesterday, but we've still got the war."

"And Eggman, knows that what we did yesterday, really does mean war." Amy added.

She then gestured to the giant map on the screen, which showed a percentage bar showing a blue resistance star on one side and the Eggman Empire logo on the other. It inched a little only to arrive at 9%. With that, the bar disappeared and was replaced with the map of the world again where Sunset Heights turned blue while the rest of the world was red.

"After last night, Eggman sent his armies out to major places around the world to strengthen his hold on the Empire. While our forces in Sunset have been able to hold their own, others are at high risk." Amy explained and as she did, more little Eggman heads appeared in different spots in the world.

"That's why your missions today will be a little bit of ground control to counter Eggman's ground control. You'll be protecting the people and also see if anybody might be willing to join the resistance."

"Everybody please line up so we can give you assignments and decide where you'll be headed today."

One by one the members of the resistance got assignments to go out and into the world. Silver was sent solo to Holoska, the Chaotix to a village out in Southside Island, Amy was headed back to Sunset and more.

It wasn't till they got to Sonic, for Celeste to be taken by surprise.

"Sonic, we have a location for you but don't think you should fly solo." Knuckles explained.

"Oh come on, I just saved Sunset! Can't you guys trust me a little?"

"I would, but Amy's not so sure yet."

Sonic looked over at Amy to which the girl blushed and tried hard to focus on the computer before her.

Sonic shrugged this off though. "Okay, who do you have in mind?"

"Take your pick."

Knuckles looked around at the people all around the room, looking at unattended resistance fighters before his eyes finally landed on Celeste.

"How about her?" Sonic asked, pointing at her.

Celeste looked around confusedly, sure that he was talking about someone else.

"Me?" She asked.

"Sure." Sonic nodded. "You helped get me out of prison, right? And you wanted me to save Sunset. So… how about we work together this time?"

Celeste didn't know what to say. Sonic the Hedgehog… _Sonic_ _ **the**_ _Hedgehog_ was asking if he wanted to go on a mission with her. Celeste. Just Celeste, it was crazy to think about, like some sort of fantasy or bad fanfiction on the internet. The world's greatest hero chose her to help him out and she, she just didn't know what to do.

"Hey, rookie!" Knuckles shouted at her.

Immediately, she snapped out of her thoughts and saw that they were all looking expectantly at her.

"Uh… y-yeah, sure. No problem at all, haha." She nervously chuckled.

"Great, so the Rookie will head with Sonic to Veimigos, Soumerica and recruit more members of the resistance." **[1]**

"Sounds good." Sonic grinned. "Ready to go partner?"

Celeste, shakily nodded her head and followed Sonic out of the room. Most of the resistance dispersed and got to their ships to handle their missions, but once enough people were gone, Knuckles grabbed Rouge by the shoulder.

"Rouge wait."

Rouge looked at Knuckles and smiled. "Getting me all alone now, Knuckles? You should at least get me dinner first."

Knuckles immediately went red in the face at that. "I- uh- no!"

Rouge laughed at this to which the Echidna steamed.

A moment passed for the two of them to calm down.

" _Anyway…_ I called you here because you and I will be going on a special mission together."

Rouge smirked, ready to make another snide comment only for Knuckles to cover her mouth.

"If you try another one of those, I swear."

"You're no fun anymore, Knuckie." Rouge shook her head. "You know, if the stress of the war is getting to you, I am always here for a little stress relief."

"Rouge please."

She chuckled again, it was so easy to get under Knuckles' skin.

"You and I will be heading to Spagonia."

"Oh, how romantic, you really know how to show a girl a good time-"

"Shadow has been sighted there."

Immediately, any joke that was at the tip of her tongue was immediately drawn back and plummeted to the pit of her stomach like a rock flung off a cliff. Shadow was there. Shadow the Hedgehog, her former teammate, colleague and friend was there. The last she really saw him, he had barked at her and Omega to leave back at Arsenal Pyramid all those months ago. Every other time she had spotted him, he would consciously avoid her which only made her even more hurt, confused and angry at the loss of her friend. And with Omega gone… he was the last of the weird little patchwork family that she had in Team Dark.

But now she had the chance to speak with him, to see what was going on that thick skull of his. If she headed to Spagonia and confronted Shadow then maybe she could even… maybe she could even bring him home.

She looked Knuckles in the eyes and tentatively nodded, following him to the bay for them to take care of the problem.

 **~Sonic Forces~**

The Soumerican city of Viemigos was an oasis in an otherwise barren desert, complete with tumbleweeds, cacti and the like. It had buildings made mostly made of some sort of clay like rock on the outside but complete with electric, plumbing and other modern amenities for basic living. Mobians roamed about in this town, most being salesmen selling all kinds of things while others milled about their daily lives. Despite the place being relatively happy and the hot sun beating down on them, there was a slight chill in the air that each and every citizen had. They knew they had been largely untouched by the Eggman Empire, but the question was, for how long?

For Sonic and Celeste, they didn't realize that was the question on people's minds as they trudged their way through the packed crowds and insufferable heat.

The two had been there for hours, attempting to spread the good word of the resistance. But unfortunately for them, most people were pretty resistant of the resistance around here.

Admittedly, the public wasn't too willing to join the resistance. While they were all starstruck by the sight of Sonic and incredibly happy to see that he really was alive and well; not many people wanted to uproot their lives and take the fight to Eggman when they were so safe in Viemigos.

Sonic got that, but truthfully, he wished that things were different. He was so excited to see all these people join the resistance after everything he had done in Sunset the day before, but people were still terrified of the Eggman Empire. Still, he wish he'd have a few new members to show for with this trip.

As for Celeste, she dutifully followed Sonic around and tried to help the blue blur with the recruitment, but she was an awkward mess that only seemed to fumble at her words. She knew she was messing this up and kinda hated that she could be so awkward around the hero, especially when she had technically broken him out of space jail.

Now, the two were shuffling through the crowds in an attempt to get something to eat, hours of failure could make a person hungry after all.

Quickly, they found a traditional Soumerican restaurant selling all kinds of traditional cuisine. Sonic had ordered patas bravas, some kind of dish that had a lot of potato and chunks of sausage in it while Celeste went for a bowl of gazpacho.

The two sat together at the table quietly eating, Celeste unsure of what to say to Sonic while the blue blur chowed down.

It was after a few moments that Sonic spoke up, his mouth still full. "Y'know Viemigos may be a little bit on the boring side but the chow here is great!"

"Yeah, this stuff is really good."

"If we ever come back, you should try their tortilla espanola. It's soooo good."

"You've been here before?"

"Oh sure. I'm always running around the world, trying out new places and seeing what kinds of things the world has to offer. I usually end up running into Viemijos whenever I'm going to visit Tai-" he stopped. "A _friend_ up in the Mystic Ruins."

Celeste nodded, not wanting to push. Course, she knew what exactly where Sonic had been going. If there was one thing the world knew about Sonic's personal life it was that his best friend was Miles Prower. Granted, things had changed since Sonic and Tails and friends had started catching the public eye four years ago with Chaos, Station Square, Shadow and the Space Colony Arc. Celeste had only been 9 years old at the time, but she remembered watching the fox kit dutifully following Sonic around and had been viewed by most as a sidekick. Course, as time went on, Tails began to do more and more for himself and prove to the public that not only he could save the world, but he made great strides in technology benefiting the planet. Everyone knew that even though they had become their own things they always found each other, especially when it was time to save the world again. And with Tails having disappeared along with Sonic, she knew that the Hedgehog wasn't having a good time thinking about his lost brother. But she continued to quietly nod at that.

Quickly, Sonic changed the subject. "So what about yo? tell me all about Celeste."

"Me?"

"Sure."

Celeste awkwardly chuckled at this, but she saw the Hedgehog's curiosity and sighed.

"Well… I don't know what there is to tell. I had a normal life growing up in Sunset after all. Thank you for saving it, by the way."

"Of course!"

"I'm an orphan though. Sunset Heights treats foster kids well and I pretty much had a normal life with school and friends and all."

"Friends are nice, but school yuck!" Sonic made a face that made Celeste laugh. Sonic smiled at that and laughed too.

"I mean, books and math and stuff? Pass. I like running better." Sonic shook his head.

Celeste raised an eyebrow. "Did you ever even go to school? No one ever talks about that with you?" _She really hoped he wouldn't take offense to that._

Sonic didn't even bat an eye. "Me? No. I've been on my own for as long as I can remember. Course, I do know how to read and write and junk thanks to friends. Basic stuff for whatever I can't punch or kick, y'know? Actually, when I'm out running around the world, sometimes I like to find a good spot, curl up with a book and just read. I love a lot of cool stuff like that one about the wizard kid or that crazy family on a scavenger hunt or even the one about the kid that's like a Chaos demigod with the pen sword, that one's really cool." **[2]**

Celeste grinned. "I really love to read too. The school library had so many good books! Although I never imagined a guy like you would like to read so much?"

"Dude, books are great. They're like movies in your head that you can enjoy any time you want."

"Why read about adventures when you go on them all the time? Don't you get tired?"

"Nope! I'm just a guy that loves adventure!"

Celeste couldn't help but grin at this. When getting into this mission, she thought that she'd be an awkward mess on this mission since she was on board with the world's greatest hero. But the guy was just so down to earth and normal that he had an infectious attitude that anyone could fall into. During that lunch she found herself laughing as she and Sonic continued to talk about books and the type of stuff they had read.

Soon, lunch had ended for them, they paid for their meals and went out to get more recruits. Or at least, they thought they were going to only for sirens all around the city to blare.

Sonic and Celeste were immediately on their feet, the latter drawing her Wispon as they prepared for whatever threat may come.

People rushed past them in a flurry of fear and confusion as they tried to get away from whatever was causing so much commotion and soon they saw it.

Walking calmly towards them was the most feared being in the world, glaring intently at them with a single red cube conjured up in his hand.

 _Infinite._

 **~Trials of War~**

When Rouge and Knuckles arrived in Spagonia, they were shocked to find that the city was still in one piece. But still, that didn't mean that everything was all smiles for the town. Things were deathly quiet save for the repeating mechanical thrump of robots marching down the street.

Knuckles and Rouge could see the people of the fine city had stuck to hiding in their homes, not wanting to get involved with the Eggman Empire. Both of them couldn't really blame them, the community of Spagonia was almost entirely human and that meant that they couldn't do much against Eggman's forces. Maybe if it were just a pack of robots. But with Shadow on sight, there wasn't a chance in the world that a mere human could stand against the Ultimate Life Form without some means of weaponry.

As the two made their way through back alleys, they could feel the fear of the entire town baring down on them in waves. They knew they had to save them somehow. Shadow too, Rouge had hoped.

Quickly the two had made their way to the center of the city. They peeked out from their hiding spot and could see a pack of robots marching around the school, ready to eliminate anything in their sights.

Rouge and Knuckles quickly ducked back into their hiding spot and looked at one another.

"He's in the school." Knuckles confirmed.

Rouge nodded and sadly chuckled. "Shadow never could keep control of his Chaos Energy levels. Made him all that more easy for GUN to keep tabs on him. Not so great during missions spying on Eggman since he has a bunch of Chaos Energy trackers up and ready for Sonic."

"Well, when you're made of the stuff, it just makes it easy."

Knuckles the Echidna was guardian of the Master Emerald and while not being Chaos Sensitive himself, he had a certain acquired skill when it came to things of a more Chaotic nature. Due to spending so much time around his beloved Master Emerald, he was able to easily sense Chaos Energies whether that be the emeralds themselves or Chaos Sensitive beings with high levels of the energy in their bodies like Sonic or Shadow. While he could never wield the emeralds in the same way that the Chaos Sensitive type could he still had a few tricks up his sleeves when it came to the emeralds.

It was this power that Knuckles was able to also tell that. "He has an Emerald with him."

Rouge put a hand to her chin in thought. "So Shadow's in there with a Chaos Emerald but he's also got a whole pack of robots with him, we can't exactly walk through the front door and say hello."

"Yeah… We're gonna need some sort of diversion."

"Well, Mr. Big Strong Leader of the Resistance, what do you have in mind?"

"Me?! Uh… I don't know uh…"

Rouge chuckled. "As usual, it looks like I'm gonna have to bail you out. Don't worry, I have a plan."

 **~Trials of War~**

At the mere sight of Infinite, Celeste's proud stance as a resistance fighter turned to a fidgeting mess of a little girl fearing for her life as she looked the malicious figure down. She could barely keep hold of her electric whip and hated herself for losing her cool.

But really, who could blame her? On the two occasions she had been up close and personal with Infinite she had several people much stronger than her to back her up. Now, it was just her and Sonic and while Sonic was incredibly strong, she couldn't help but feel that she was facing him by herself.

With each step he took towards them, she could feel her heart beat faster and faster, louder and louder to the point where it was pounding in her ears. She was surprised she hadn't fainted right then and there.

But Infinite just about ignored her and spoke to Sonic, who stood there with teeth grit, fists clenched and spines sharp as nails ready to bare down on him at any moment.

Infinite couldn't help but chuckle. "Well… well… well… look who's back from the dead? The little blue savior. But I see no so called hero here. Just the rabble that the resistance and this pathetic world clings to, an annoying little sewer rat. Didn't I teach you to know your place all those months ago? Or was that not enough? Surely the time on the Death Egg would've sufficed."

Sonic said nothing, his stance getting even more rigid than before.

"But it seems that when the rat is let out of its cage and flops back into the sewage, it decides to make waves? You've made quite the impression on the world, Sonic. An impression that I, nor the rest of the empire approve of."

Sonic tried to snap back at him, but the words didn't meet him. He hated this. Wisecracks were his specialty, especially when it came to Eggman or one of his cronies. But here… here he just found nothing. Sonic's eyes screwed shut as he looked away from him, shocking Celeste.

Infinite however, couldn't help but laugh. "But it seems that I have made an impression as well. What is wrong, Sonic? Your tongue is known to be as sharp as your spines and yet I see nothing but a weak and trembling fool before me. You reek of fear."

Sonic glared back at him, but even then, he could they didn't stay still. His hard glare wavered.

Celeste saw this and was shocked. Sonic was afraid. He was afraid of Infinite and she didn't know what to do. If Sonic was afraid then what could she possibly do against Infinite on her own? It was that fear and that desperation to do just about anything that she found herself doing something that she instantly regretted.

"We're not afraid of you!" The words spilled out of her mouth before she even realized it. _What did I just do?!_

Infinite finally turned his attention to her and she could feel the entire world around her seemingly freeze as that one golden eye penetrated her defenses and bore directly into her soul.

"You should be."

With that, the gem on his chest began to glow and the sound of distortion with it.

Celeste could only shriek as Infinite raced towards her in less than a second.

" _ **Celeste!"**_ Sonic cried out, finally broken out of his silence and able to move again.

He was off his feet and raced towards her at incredibly high speeds, whisking her off her feet and out of harm. And right on time too as Infinite appeared right where she was standing, sending a punch with blazing red energy into the air that sent the building behind her crumbling to the ground in an instant.

Celeste screamed at this only to realize that she was not being confronted by Infinite and was instead in the arms of the hedgehog.

He set her down. "Are you okay?!" He asked, his voice nearly cracking at that.

Celeste slowly nodded her head at this to which Sonic let out a sigh of relief.

He then turned back to face Infinite who was now rising up into the air.

"So the rat still has some fight in him? Let's see how long you last against Infinite power!" **[3]**

And with that the sound of distortion rang out again and walls of red cubes rose out of the sides of the street and rushed towards them, attempting to close them in.

Finally seeing her life in danger again, Celeste snapped out of it and immediately rose her Wispon, swiping out at the walls.

Luckily, it seemed to work and the cubes vanished.

Infinite growled at this and Sonic took the chance to jump into the air and home in on him.

The hit landed to which, he grunted.

Sonic landed next to her and gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks for the assist partner."

Celeste shakily returned it.

Infinite growled. "Lucky shot."

With that, Infinite continued his onslaught of attacks, this time racing towards the two of them with his red aura surrounding him.

Both of them jumped out of the way in opposite directions.

While Celeste tumbled to the ground in a heap, Sonic landed on his feet and was quick to chase after him through the city.

When Celeste got up she could see trails of blue and red ahead of her and knew that Sonic was hot on pursuit. How she would ever catch up? She had no idea. But she got up and decided to make her way through the back alleys of the town, hoping that somehow she would luck out and they'd run towards her.

Sonic and Infinite clashed into each other, letting out piercing shrieks as their auras met. But if that wasn't enough, Infinite continued to raise walls of those mystical cubes in his path, forcing him to dodge each and every one of them as he also focused on Infinite. He swerved around, hopped over and slid under them as Infinite continued to bring about more and more walls of cubes.

Soon, Sonic didn't do well as he tripped over one and fell face first into the pavement.

Infinite laughed at this only for it to be cut off when an electric whip snapped into him, forcing him into the ground as well.

Infinite's head snapped up into the direction of the blow and he soon scowled at the sigh of Celeste running towards Sonic.

She helped him up to which Sonic quickly thanked her and Celeste shakily nodded.

With that, Infinite warped back up so that he floated in front of them.

Infinite then began to fire lasers at them, to which Celeste grabbed Sonic and used her grappling hook to swing away from the first shot.

They landed on a roof and Sonic used the opportunity to try and home in on Infinite only for him to warp away. When Sonic landed, Infinite was waiting for him and sent a kick into his stomach that sent him flying away and crashing into a building with a yelp.

Just as Infinite was about to go after him, an electric whip lashed out towards him to which he called upon the energy within his gem and slowed down time for a moment. Using the time, he was able to cover his hand in the Ruby's energy to protect him, he then reached out and grabbed the whip right out of the air, his hand protected by the energy.

To Celeste, it seemed almost instantaneous when Infinite grabbed her wispon and gave her this condescending look as he shook his head.

Just as Sonic was running towards Infinite, he flung her into Sonic with the whip. They both landed in a heap to which Infinite could only shake his head.

"You two are pathetic, hardly worth my time. To think that you believed you would defeat me."

He then floated up into the air.

"Perhaps I should destroy this town, make it clear that you were here and that you failed yet again, Sonic."

Sonic was immediately up on his feet at that. "No!"

Infinite then raced off through the town.

 **~Trials of War~**

Knuckles the Echidna calmly walked out from his hiding spot with his hands behind his back and his eyes closed as if he were a child walking to the front of the classroom to ask a teacher a question.

When he reached one of the Egg Pongs he tapped it on the shoulder. "Excuse me, sir."

The Egg Pong turned around and looked at Knuckles confusedly only to get a fist to its face.

Immediately, the robot exploded into scrap.

All of the robots in the area immediately turned their attention to Knuckles, who grinned as he got ready to fight.

While the emerald guardian was mixing it up with the robots on the ground, Rouge the bat took to the skies and flew into the university undetected.

She quickly made her way through the halls and soon, she soon found herself in a room where Shadow calmly looked out the window, watching everything unfold with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"Hey, Shadow."

Shadow jumped at that, but turned to face her.

"Rouge…"

Not much had changed about Shadow in the past six months, same black quills, same red streaks, same tuft of fur on his chest. It was still the same Shadow that she knew. But there was something in there that only someone who had known him as well as Rouge did could. Unlike his Chaos Energy, Shadow was very good at masking his emotions. But Rouge saw right through him. Shadow gave off this air of fatigue that only she could see. It saddened her.

She tried to handle the situation as calmly as possible. "How's it going?"

Shadow stared at her, confused. But he answered anyway. "Well. Yourself?"

"Same old, same old. Fighting for the world and all of that."

Shadow slowly nodded.

"But the real question is… why aren't you?"

Shadow didn't say anything, instead reaching into his quills and pulling out the Chaos Emerald. He screwed his eyes shut and raised it into the air.

"Chaos-"

"Shadow, please!"

Shadow couldn't help but open one eye only to immediately wish he hadn't. There, he saw his closest friend looking at him with pleading eyes for him not to leave her again. He hated this, he hated how Rouge could get to him like this, it was why he actively avoided her over the course of the past six months. He knew that out of anyone in this world, it would be her that would get through to him.

"I just want to talk…"

Shadow sighed and lowered the emerald. He crossed his arms and looked at Rouge.

"Shadow, just please help me understand… why would you turn away from the world like this?"

Shadow just shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."

"No, I don't understand. But I want to. Shadow, you're my best friend in the entire world, you and Omega both. There's so much that I know about you that no one else does, like how you spend over an hour every morning making sure your quills look perfect; or how you write letters postcards to Maria about where you've gone in the world and the good things you've done with GUN or even that you drink coffee grinds right out of the container **[4]** , I know it all Shadow. I know you better than anyone else does!"

Shadow didn't say anything.

"So I know that there's no way you'd turn your back on the world, not like this! Not without a reason. So I want to know _**why**_ , Shadow?! _**Why**_ are you doing this?"

"I- I-" Shadow stammered. For the first time in a long time, Shadow didn't have any idea what to say, he just fell silent.

But Rouge didn't stop looking at him, waiting for an answer. When she didn't get one, she finally asked him. "Is it… is it because Infinite is an-"

"That's enough." Shadow snapped. "I have no time for this and have finished my mission here."

"Shadow, no! Please don't-"

"Chaos Control!"

And in a blink of an eye, he was gone.

Rouge sighed. She pushed too hard and now Shadow was gone again. Who knew when she would get another chance to talk to him?

With that, she and Knuckles quickly took care of the robots, made sure the people in the town were okay and learned of the capture of Professor Pickle and the university students in the building.

And then, they flew back in silence. Knukcles kept trying to ask her how it went, but she wouldn't budge.

When they arrived back at the base, Rouge went straight to her room and didn't say anything to anyone.

 **~Trials of War~**

"Come on, Celeste. We have to go after him."

Celeste just stayed crouched there, staring at the ground in stunned silence. While they had managed to get a few hits in, Infinite was absolutely whipping the floor with them. They couldn't do this, they couldn't fight him! What was she thinking joining the resistance in the first place?! She should've gone to Adabat and relaxed, but now… now what was she going to do, Infinite was going to destroy Veimigos.

She was hyperventilating now, absolutely terrified.

"Celeste!"

Finally, she looked up at Sonic, still unable to get herself under control.

"Celeste are you okay?"

She shook her head. No, she was not okay at all.

"Celeste, it's okay, please try and calm down. Deep breaths okay?"

She nodded and slowly took deep breaths, they could hear the destruction in the background but she had to focus on Sonic right now to get her breathing under control.

"S-Sonic," She choked out, her breath somewhat under control. "We-we can't fight him. He-he's too strong."

"We can."

"No, we can't. Or maybe, you can. But I- I can't. I'm not a hero like you, I'm just a scared little girl. I never should've joined the resistance."

Sonic shook his head. "Hey, it's okay to be scared. I'm scared too."

Celeste just closed her eyes and looked away.

"Hey, you know what happened the last time I fought that guy? I got creamed. I got creamed so bad that I got locked up for months and the world fell apart. I'm scared too. And you know what, even when I went up against huge bad guys like Chaos or Dark Gaia, I was scared then. Being a hero isn't about being fearless, it's about putting on a brave face and taking on the bad guys no matter how scared you are because it's the right thing to do."

Celeste looked at him, with wide eyes.

Sonic offered his hand down to her. "I may be strong, but I can't do this alone. So are you with me, partner?"

Celeste looked at his hand, she tried desperately to give him her best smile and shakily took his hand.

And as soon as they touched, Celeste suddenly felt a new energy within her, like something had changed. She looked to Sonic and was surprised to see him glowing with a blue energy and the same coming off of herself. The energy was warm and powerful, tingling her entire body and rejuvenating all her energy. She felt the instant need to get moving and knew that Sonic probably felt the same.

Sonic grinned at this and she couldn't help but smile, together they took off down the road at incredible speeds, surrounded by Sonic's boost aura.

Quickly, they found Infinite and before he could even figure out what was happening, they slammed into him. He was knocked out of the air and into the ground below.

Sonic and Celeste landed on the ground together, finally letting their hands go and the energy fleeting from them.

Sonic was absolutely amazed at what happened. "That was incredible! I'd never felt anything like that before! That- that was like some sort of Double Boost! I loved it!"

Celeste couldn't help but smile at him at this as he continued to ramble on excitingly. She couldn't believe what they had done either, but she liked it. It was incredible.

And then, Infinite rose into the air.

"That was a mistake…" He growled.

While Celeste gulped and stepped back, Sonic couldn't help but smirk at the masked one. "Well, well, if it isn't the masked clown. Wanna take on some more?"

"None of your data shows any of this power. What- what is this?"

"It's called payback, Infinite! Why don't you try and come at me again!"

Infinite clenched his fists and began to charge them. Sonic stood proud and tall while Celeste cowered in fear behind him.

But at that very moment, the craziest thing happened.

Infinite was thrown off his flight path when a yellow blur zoomed on past him.

Infinite was confused at this, only for the blur to fly past him again.

"What?!" Infinite said.

Sonic was confused as well.

Soon, the yellow blur was flying around him at incredible speeds to which Infinite was confused and kept trying to make grabs for it. Finally, it formed into that of a yellow flying squirrel wearing a blue scarf and blue shoes. He sent a flying kick into Infinite that threw him off his path and sent him down into the ground.

He groaned at this and just before he could even get up, a red ball came down on him, hard. It completely knocked the wind out of him and before he could even notice what was going on, the red blur hopped off of him revealing him to be a black armadillo with a red shell wearing fingerless black gloves and brown combat boots.

He then kicked back onto the ground in a spindash and slammed into Infinite again, knocking him straight into a wall.

When the Armadillo reformed again, he smirked at Infinite. "Alright, tough guy, you want some more? You don't mess with my town and get away with it."

"Yeah, we showed you!" The squirrel smirked as he landed next to the armadillo and grinned.

Sonic was shocked and ran over to them, Celeste coming after him. "Mighty?! Ray?! I haven't seen you guys in ages!"

"Sonic, hey! Long time no see!" Mighty grinned. He brought his arm around his friend and smiled.

Ray nodded. "We haven't seen you in like five years!"

"Dudes, it has been way too long!"

The three were all smiles and laughs at this, but finally Infinite rose from where he was, clutching his head.

"Urg… what is this?"

"Your worst nightmare, punk!" Mighty pointed at him. "You picked the wrong town to mess with!"

"Yeah!" Ray agreed.

Infinite rose into the air and formed two balls of energy in his fists to which the four stood ready, although Celeste still shakily.

"It's four against one!" Sonic shouted. "Think about what you're doing before you fight."

Infinite looked down on all of them and analyzed the situation. Four fighters were here before him, four. The girl, Celeste, was weak, hardly a problem even without the data. She was only still alive because Sonic was here and with the fear in her eyes, not only did Infinite know that she knew this, but that fear was bound to have her make a mistake. Then there was Sonic the Hedgehog, Infinite had all the data on him and knew exactly how to defeat him in almost any scenario. But the other two, this Mighty and Ray? He had never even heard of them and had absolutely no idea what the two were capable of. But they were strong, strong enough to have taken him on and catch him by surprise. That was something he could not take the risk of and would definitely need to add them to high priority threats, especially since they seemed to be friends with Sonic.

So with that, Infinite took the two balls of energy in his hands and chucked them down at the two to which they all scattered.

Before they could even act, Infinite's hands and the gem on his chest alit with red energy before he made the infinity symbol in his hands and vanished in a flash of light, leaving glitchy particles behind.

Infinite had retreated.

They had won.

Quickly, the group began to celebrate, with Sonic, Mighty and Ray having their reunion. Celeste had learned that they had been friends of Sonic in his early adventuring days and apparently, they had ended up in one of Eggman's death traps together five years ago and hadn't really seen each other since. As it turned out, the two ended up in Soumerica where they lived and tried to lead normal lives as surrogate brothers, choosing not to get into everything. But they continued to fight and train to protect themselves since Eggman and his schemes were always on the news. They quickly caught up with Sonic to which Celeste backed off and thought to herself.

They may have beat Infinite, but she knew that was only because of Mighty and Ray. Infinite had nearly killed her multiple times during this mission and she knew Sonic had saved her life. Had she been alone, she wouldn't be standing here today. She was afraid, she was very afraid and she wondered was she really cut out for all of this?

As they headed back with Mighty and Ray as the new members of the resistance, Celeste thought on her life.

 **[1] The name Viemigos is derived from the words Viejos Amigos which means Old Friends in Spanish. Decided to go with that name to allude to what happens at the end of the chapter.**

 **[2] Sonic references Harry Potter, The 39 Clues and Percy Jackson.**

 **[3] Those of you listening to music, it's time for that Battle with Infinite First Bout.**

 **[4] Don't you just love the Sonic Twitter takeovers?**

 **And we are done! The next chapter of Trials of War is finished and I can die happy now. This is a chapter that was a long time coming and I'm honestly incredibly happy with how it turned out what with Rouge and Shadow and Celeste and Sonic and Infinite. It was such good stuff. And Mighty and Ray! The bois are back! Honestly, whether or not you wanna believe it, I had actually planned for the two of them to be in this story before they were announced for Mania Plus and wanted them to be a big surprise. I know the real canon has the whole "Classic and Modern dimension" BS but I don't care and I'm adding them in here anyway. So yeah, Mighty and Ray have officially joined the resistance and they're the first of a few more surprise characters that'll be joining up in this story.**

 **Next time, we'll be heading to Studiopolis Zone with the Classic bois in what I'm sure will be a short chapter and after that? We'll be going to the next Forces exclusive location with the resistance. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I had a lot of fun with it.**

 **R &R.**


	12. Chapter 11: The Forgotten Spotlight

**And we're back with another chapter of Trials of War and I know exactly how I'm gonna do this one, just not sure how long it's gonna be since there isn't much ground to cover here. But it's always a lot of fun with the Classic Trio, so let's see where we go here.**

 **Everyone:**

 **It's so cute that none of you really know what's going on with Shadow. You guys are right about some things but have missed the major point. Honestly, I was scared that I made the why too obvious, but guess I'm safe there. For now, Shadow fights for his own reasons, that's all you need to know. We'll discover the real truth in Episode Shadow but that's a long ways away, so buckle up.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw:**

 **Thank you so much, I'm so glad you liked this chapter. The interactions were the best part to write and Mighty and Ray were a surprise I loved bringing into the mix.**

 **Alexandria Prime:**

 **Glad you loved Mighty and Ray's appearance. They were definitely the highlight of the chapter. And as for Tails, I did that intentionally to make the surprise bigger that it was Mighty and Ray.**

 **It's gonna be a long while till we get the reunion. Like, Episode Shadow long while. But I will say that when the reunion happens, it's gonna be big and you're all gonna love it. It's one of the scenes I'm looking for most looking forward to writing and it happens after such a big event in this story. You're all gonna love it, but you're gonna have to wait a while.**

 **Poor Rouge too. I feel so bad for what I had to do to her last time.**

 **tekina fiction:**

 **Haha, we talked on Discord but I'll reply to this too.**

 **I'm glad the last chapter won you over. Seems to have been a favorite for a lot of people and honestly? It's one of my favorites too even when I didn't expect it to be.**

 **Celeste is pure and I love her too. Rouge and Shadow are an emotional bunch. Weird since they're supposed to be the mature ones.**

 **I'm glad you liked the little details. While Sonic's world is already an established place, I like to put in even more details to make sure that it's my version of Sonic's world to give it make it more personal for both myself and the reader to enjoy.**

 **Infinite's Ruby:**

 **Yep, seems like everybody loves this story now. Hahaha. I'm so glad that you're enjoying it so much and Mighty and Ray were a big surprise that I loved adding in here.**

 **Shadow and Rouge were a big part of the last chapter and honestly, it hurt as much to write as I'm sure it did for all of you to read. I poured a lot of heart into their interaction as well as Sonic and Celeste's. Since they seem to be such a big hit I would say I was successful in my mission to break all your hearts.**

 **Celeste is a precious child and she deserves to be protected. It's too bad that she's going to go through even worse in the future- I mean, what? Celeste will be fine. Probably. ;)**

 **You're gonna get a lot more to love with this story soon since we haven't even hit the halfway point yet. Get ready for more fun with this and the next chapter.**

 **SpiderDom321:**

 **Dude, don't worry about it. Life happens and you've got your own stuff to do. As always, I'm thankful that you and everybody else take the time to read this story and even review it. Whether it's today or 20 years from now, I appreciate the support so don't worry at all about it. As for your stories, we talked in DMs.**

 **Haha, thank you. But if you think those are the last tricks that I've got up my sleeves then you are mistaken. Keep an eye out for more surprises to come.**

 **Ohohoho, you think his allegiance is fake? Well… that's partially true. Shadow doesn't like what he's doing but he's still doing it. The reasons will be revealed soon, all I'll say is that you should take a look at** _ **more clues.**_ **Shadow's got some issues right now and he's not letting anybody in, even Rouge.**

 **Character was a big part of the last chapter and I'm so glad that you guys are loving what I'm doing with these guys. Heart is one of the biggest reasons I'm writing this story in the first place and it's what drives me to take it all the way into the end. Forces didn't deliver on the amount of heart that I wanted it to have among other things and this story is to bring all of what it's missing. More heartfelt moments are coming in the future and I can't wait for you guys to see all of them. If you thought Shadow and Rouge and Celeste and Sonic were heartfelt moments then you should wait and see the stuff I have planned for the future. Oh! I'm so excited and I can't wait to play with all of your emotions some more.**

 **Mighty and Ray! They're here! The bois! Yep, these two were planned from the very beginning even before Mania Plus was announced and I'm glad to finally bring them in here. As for the Classic and Modern Dimension thing, I'm fine with them being separate dimensions, the issue is you can't have characters exclusive to Classic just up and vanish in the modern timeline because the Classics still happened to Sonic. Just ugh. But luckily, I've rectified that and they're here and I'm gonna have so much fun with them. Expect more shenanigans with Mighty and Ray to come in the future.**

 **I hope you enjoy what I have with them here. Always appreciate for the support man, thank so much.**

 **KelWelPower:**

 **A new reviewer! Sweet! Glad to see you're enjoying the story and thank you so much for the review. I really appreciate it.**

 **I'm so glad you think it's one of the best Forces fics, really makes me happy to see that people love seem to be enjoying this so much. Characters are always important and I've made very careful to do as much as I can to bring them to life in the best way that I can. Sonic and Tails are really nice too and I love writing them in this situation. Tails is just a kid and he's having as tough a time as anybody especially with what happened with Sonic. He's gonna have more rough times ahead. And as for the reunion, long way away but it's so gonna be worth it, I promise. Sonic's speed is okay but let's just say his issues are a little more personal than that. Stay tuned and once again, thanks so much for the support.**

 **With that said, let's get into it!**

 **Trials of War: A Sonic Forces Rewrite**

 **Chapter 11:**

 **The Forgotten Spotlight**

To the younger Sonic, it was mere days ago when he, Tails and Knuckles had popped out of the pipe from Chemical Plant Zone and into the spotlight that was Studiopolis Zone. Everything was big and bright and left him in absolute awe. Yeah, it was one of Eggman's places, but he couldn't help but admit that the doc had style when it came to Studiopolis. Studiopolis Zone was probably one of his favorite places to trash.

So you could imagine Sonic's surprise when the place was already a wreck.

Gone were the bright lights and the whimsical music of the zone, no longer was everything pristine and perfect, offering a good time. Now… everything was gone. Buildings were left in ruin with holes torn into them, a lot of the lights were left shattered and the signs of battle imminent what with scorch marks and the like all around. Studiopolis Zone definitely wasn't what it used to be.

Sonic shook his head, actually a little disappointed. "Man, this place was totally trashed!"

Tails nodded. "Yeah, looks like whatever happened with the resistance, they did a number on the place."

"No kidding. And here I thought that you, me and Knux were the kings of wrecking Studiopolis, but I guess not."

Tails still looked confusedly at him at that but said nothing.

"Looks like Eggman rebuilt the place, but still… I don't remember this being in Metropolis…"

Sonic shook his head. "It's not. When he built it last time, Studiopolis was on Westside Island. Not sure why he stuck it smack dab in the middle of the United Federation this time. I was hoping you'd have the answer to that."

"Not really. It looks like he just felt like it, I guess. It's close to Metropolis which everybody knows is the capital of his empire, so it's probably important."

"Well… was until it looks like me and the rest of the resistance came in and busted it up."

Tails quietly nodded at that.

"Speaking of the resistance though… what made you leave? I know you saw me go down and everything, but what really scared you off?"

Tails sighed, he knew this question was coming at some point and was honestly surprised that it had taken Sonic three whole days to ask. But looking into his friend's big black eyes, he knew he had to answer.

"Well…"

 **~Trials of War~**

And with that, Sonic's eyes closed as Infinite landed next to him.

"SONIC!"

"Even in his prime, the world's greatest hero is still no match for the Phantom Ruby's power." Infinite shook his head. "How pathetic."

Sonic laid on the floor, motionless as the villains gathered around him, looking down on the defeated hero. Zavok grinned at this, looking ready to finish him off himself; Metal was as he always was, cold and emotionless as usual, but anyone could see the way his eyes locked on his double; Shadow was absolutely unreadable as he stared down at his rival and Chaos, just confused.

Eggman hovered down to them, beaming at the sight of it all. "Success! Success! A brilliant success! This plan went off even better than I ever could've imagined! The brilliant genius that is Doctor Eggman has triumphed over all once again!"

"Of course, master. With our powers combined, Sonic the Hedgehog was absolutely no match for us. We owe it all to you."

The others rolled their eyes at this.

It was Zavok who spoke up. "So what do we do now. Do we dispose of him? Please, allow me to be the one to deliver the finishing blow."

Eggman shook his head. "No. Sonic will live for now, but not for long."

Zavok sagged at that.

"You three, will destroy the city though. Chaos, head to Sunset University, I want to make sure you wipe that miserable school off the map; Zavok, you will be going to the Red Gate Bridge, make sure that no one gets out of Sunset; and Shadow… you will be taking out the resistance base. I've finally found it within the city and I'm tasking you to destroy it to further prove your loyalty to us."

They all nodded at this and left to continue the destruction.

This left, Eggman, Infinite and Sonic's battered body alone.

Eggman then turned to Infinite. "You know what to do."

Infinite nodded and his clawed hand towards Sonic as a miasmic energy surrounded it with glitchy particles floating around as well.

Tails, who had been watching all of this had been frozen in fear at the very sight of it all. Eggman was here, he had defeated Sonic, he had all these bad guys here including one of their friends and some mysterious new threat and now? He was going to do something to Sonic.

Tails didn't know what happened, his feet just moved. He found himself standing between Sonic and Infinite, standing with fists shakily clenched in front of him.

"No! I won't let you hurt him anymore."

Eggman laughed. "Come now, Tails. You saw what happened to him just now and then you still stand against us? I know you're smarter than that."

"I'm smart enough to know that I'm not letting you touch him."

"Have it your way then."

Eggman snapped his fingers.

Tails didn't have the time to prepare for battle when both Infinite's mask and ruby flashed red along with the sound of distortion ringing out around them.

Immediately, the jackal was upon him, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and slamming a fist into his stomach with such force that not only did it knock the wind out of him but it sent him flying across the square.

He wished he had slammed into the wall instead of what had happened next. Infinite had somehow appeared yet again and plucked him out of the air by his namesakes. Infinite then spun around in a circle at such speeds before punting the fox off into the distance and he finally got his wish of actually being thrown into one of the walls.

Tails crumbled to the floor in a heap, quivering in pain.

Infinite looked down at him, his visible eye furrowing at the sight of the downed fox. "To think that you could defeat me when even your champion has failed? You only have your own foolishness to blame for your pain."

"Well done." Eggman grinned. "Now, the hedgehog."

Infinite nodded and turned back to Sonic, the same miasmic energy and particles from before appearing.

But Tails, wouldn't allow this. Teeth grit and legs ready to give out, the kit slowly rose to his feet, glaring down the two. "No… I won't-" He coughed. "I won't let you do this."

Eggman sighed. "Can you?"

Without a word, Infinite raised the other hand and aimed it up above Tails. He then fired a laser blast that hit an awning above him and caused the rubble to all come tumbling down on him.

After that, everything went black.

 **~Trials of War~**

"When I finally came to… everything was gone. Eggman, Infinite, you, the resistance. I didn't know what to do. I tried to go back to base but it was all destroyed, even the Tornado was gone. Then eventually, I ran into Omega and without anything to do, I tried to bring him back to life. I'd failed for months until you came along."

"Tails, I'm sorry… I had no idea."

Tails just shook his head. "It's fine. The important thing is you're here now and when we fix Omega we can start looking for the other you, we just have to keep moving on."

Sonic nodded. "Right."

And with that, the trio continued on in silence for the most part, taking in everything that was the broken Studiopolis Zone.

Eventually Sonic spoke up again. "Hey Tails?"

"Hm?"

"How long has it been exactly?"

"The world has been like this for six months. I told you that already."

"Yeah… but I mean, how long has it been exactly since the whole Time Eater thing?" Sonic asked. "I know that between my time and the whole time eater thing, there's like four years, but what about after that?"

"Well… after your birthday we had this whole big thing on the Lost Hex where there were these big monster lizard guys called the Zeti who could control machines."

"That sounds weird. Why is the future so weird?" Sonic sighed.

Tails laughed. "What's weird to you is normal to us and it looks like it'll be normal to you soon."

Sonic shook his head "Right? What's next, a magical board game in another dimension?"

"Well…"

"Are you kidding me?"

Tails laughed.

"Moving on… what happened after the weird stuff?"

"Well… Eggman went quiet for a while. Not much happened for a few months until Team Dark started saying that they were planning something big and that GUN was looking into it, then Knuckles came off his island with Silver panicking about Eggman and that we needed to get everyone together to stop him, then Eggman took down GUN and we were fighting with him for the rest of the year after that. Then… well, you were believed to be dead and six months went by. I'd say it's been almost two years since the whole Time Eater thing."

Sonic nodded. "Right. So that means, older me is about seventeen now, right?"

"Yeah." He sighed. "You'll actually be turning eighteen soon."

"Right. Then that would make you…" Sonic began counting on his fingers and his face sunk. "No… that can't be right…" He counted again and again and again. Each time more frantic before it finally dawned on him. "Y-you-you're 13?!"

"Yeah… what's wrong with that?"

" _ **You're older than me!"**_

"I am?!" Tails gasped. "Wait, that means you're still twelve?!"

"Uh, yeah. I met Knuckles and everything like you guys said I would, but I haven't gone and done the whole chaos thing or met that edgy hedgy like you guys said I would yet because last I checked, I'm still 12, but I'm almost 13."

"I just wow." Tails was surprised.

"Tell me about it. I can't believe you're older than me. You're supposed to be my cute and adorable little bro."

"Well, I still am. I'm just older than you."

"I hate Time Travel."

"Tell me about it." Tails agreed.

The three continued on down the path for a while before Tails finally spoke up again.

"Sonic can you tell me a bit about what you've been up to since the whole Time Eater thing?"

"Well, I went back in time and nothing happened for a while until eventually you and I ended up on Angel Island where we met Knuckles and fought Eggman again and everything. It was even crazier then you guys said it would be. And then, everything went quiet with Eggman for a while until you started picking up on this weird energy thing back on Angel Island and we went back but it looked like Eggman already beat us to the punch. He dug up the Phantom Ruby and then we ended up all over the place fighting off these robots called the Hard Boiled Heavies before it all finally ended on Little Planet."

"Wait, Little Planet? But I thought you said you already did the thing with the time stones before you met us."

"Yeah, Little Planet. And I did, but Eggman took us back to Stardust Speedway, I kicked Metal's butt again and later he brought us to Metallic Madness and from there, we climbed on this giant robot that he called the Titanic Monarch. He said it was built to rule or whatever, I dunno. But we stopped him and then the Ruby flipped out, I fought Eggman and the Heavy King at the same time while they played hot potato with the Phantom Ruby and I won, then the Ruby brought me here."

Tails scratched his head. "That's bizarre…"

"What's so weird about it?" Sonic asked. "All of that stuff happened to you before but you sound like this is the first time you're ever hearing any of it."

"What?" Tails let out an awkward laugh. "Pfft… no, of course not. I'm just so surprised because I didn't expect all of that stuff to happen so soon. I figured you'd have only met Knuckles at this point, but I had no idea you had already run into the Phantom Ruby."

Tails raised an eyeridge at him. "Right…"

"Yep! Just didn't know you had already done all of that stuff, wow!" Tails lied.

Sonic could see right through it but didn't press. Why was it that anytime Sonic brought any of that up, Tails didn't seem to have a clue? It confused him to no end and it looked like the foxkit didn't want to talk about it so he decided not to push.

They pressed on and soon they found their way to the end of Studiopolis Zone and with it, they found the pile of busted robot parts that was the Hard Boiled Heavies.

Sonic ran over to the pieces of robots surprised to see them there. "Woah, the Hard Boiled Heavies?! Looks like Eggman really did spring all the stops on them down in Studiopolis."

"Man, these things look like they really packed a punch, that would explain why this place is in so much ruin." Tails said.

"No kidding, I can't wait to fight them all again. Man, remember Tails, it was right here, you me and Knux were going up against the Heavy Gunner and he was firing all kinds of crazy rockets and stuff and it was awesome. I wish I could've fought all these guys again."

Tails shrugged. "Yeah… I remember. It was crazy. But at least we don't have to worry about them now."

And with that, the pile began to shudder and shake and with it the Heavy Magician began to rise out of the pile. The three stood ready to take on the robot and then, just as it was about to raise a hand towards them, it fell apart into millions of pieces. It's not time for an encore yet.

"Well… that was a rip." Sonic shook his head.

"Oh well, at least we don't have to do anymore fighting. We've cleared Studiopolis and got a lot more to get through before we get to the Mystic Ruins."

"Alright, then where are we headed next?" Sonic asked.

"Well a lot of unpopulated areas from here on out, villages here and there and things like that, but the next major area should be Station Square which'll take a couple of days to get to."

"Well, we've got plenty of time so let's go!"

Together, the three ran off into the distance ready to get into the world and continue their quest across the globe. Their next stop: Station Square.

 **And… that's it for this chapter. I know it's shorter and doesn't have as much action but I needed to include this one for some exposition. So… yeah. We learned more about what's going on with the world, the timeline and things like that. Use Modern Sonic's age as a base for everyone else's ages in this story since I kinda changed Tails for my own convenience. I just wanted him to be older than our Classic Boi.**

 **I actually started writing this one and finished it and got like halfway done with the next one but was an idiot who didn't save and lost a good chunk of this chapter so had to rewrite a lot of it which is annoying. Remember to always save as you go, kids.**

 **But yeah, next time we'll be having a much more action packed chapter as we return to Modern Sonic and the Avatar in one of the Forces Exclusive locations. Which one, you'll have to wait and see. But that's all for now.**

 **And who knows? It might be sooner than you think.**

 **R &R**


	13. Chapter 12: Luminous Forest Fires

**Surprise! You thought I was only going to come in with the short chapter this month, but you were wrong!**

 **And we're back for another chapter of Trials of War. First, I wanna celebrate since Trials of War is now officially my most reviewed story! We did it guys! And I owe it all to you. When I started this story, I had no idea it would get so popular and I'm glad you all have stuck around for so long. As a reward for us reaching this milestone, I present to you all an extra-long chapter weeks earlier than usual and this one is a personal favorite of mine. Are you guys ready, because only you can prevent Luminous Forest Fires. But before we do that how about some review replies:**

 **KelWelPower:**

 **Heh, looks like you might be onto something with Luminous Forest**

 **tekina fiction:**

 **Heh, thank you.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw:**

 **Haha, I'm glad you liked it.**

 **Infinite's Ruby:**

 **For now, I'm gonna say hold off on the alternate dimension thing. I do have a plan and explanation unlike Forces and will be getting into it later on in the story. Admittedly, I probably should've focused more on that. So my bad.**

 **Modern Tails and Classic Sonic are good boys and a lot of fun to write. I'm glad you enjoyed them.**

 **Station Square will be next time. For now, we enjoy another spot.**

 **Alexandria Prime:**

 **Haha, seems like everybody loves that scene. Omega is here, he's just quiet. And the Heavies were a nod to Encore Mode, something I don't plan to write but will still be canon to my story. Gonna be a while till we get to that reunion but it's gonna be so worth it.**

 **bajy:**

 **Thank you for the support!**

 **Spiderdom321:**

 **Haha, yep. That seems to be the big reveal with this chapter. I actually probably would've made Classic Sonic mute in this story, but there's a reason I made him speak. A particular scene that is planned for much later in the story. But their banter is a lot of fun to write and I'm so glad you enjoy it.**

 **Everyone wants the reunion so bad. Haha. Honestly, you all are not the only ones. I want it to and gosh, it's such a big moment that I'm looking forward to but so, so far away.**

 **Thank you and no problem. It was a pleasure. And all I can say is hold onto your hat with Shadow, we're gonna have quite the ride.**

 **KelWelPower:**

 **Funny you should mention Sonic Adventure. But I guess that's next chapter. As for the characters, I hope I do them justice. And Big? I'm sure he's fine. Thanks so much for the support.**

 **Also, just a note. I strongly recommend you listen to Aqua Road during the Celeste portion of the chapter because oh my gosh, it fits so well.**

 **Trials of War: A Sonic Forces Rewrite**

 **Chapter 12-**

 **Only You Can Prevent Luminous Forest Fires**

"Good evening everyone. I'm Ace Reporter, Brenda **[1]** Robinson here to bring you the latest news!" A young woman announced as she stood proud and tall before the camera. She looked to be in her early twenties and had on simple form fitting pants, high heels and probably the most prominent thing being her large red news blazer emblazoned with the Eggman Empire logo on the back and the pin sporting the classic Eggman logo. The young woman was standing amongst a crowd of humans and mobians with a stage set up in the background complete with a red curtain and the like.

"I'm coming to you live today from sunny Metropolis, the shining capital of the Eggman Empire to bring you the latest on what's crackin' with our benevolent emperor, Doctor Eggman."

She waited a beat, then continued. "And of course, the kindness of our great leader today as it has been declared that today is a national holiday! Aside from today's required viewing that is about to take place, we can all sit back, relax and enjoy our day today. We have no one but the good 'ol doc for making the day sunny side up."

At that, she put her finger to her ear, to where someone told her that they were about to begin. She nodded at this and smiled back at the camera.

"And it looks like things are about to begin soon, so let's see what he has for us."

With that, she smiled at the camera, waiting for them to change footage. Her cameraman, a green koala bear named Carl held up the camera in one hand and had his fist held up in another. He kept his fist there for a few moments, before he opened his palm, signaling that they were done.

Brenda let out a sigh of relief at this and walked over to her friend. "You're doing great, Carl. Thank you."

"Of course, Ms. Brenda."

"Please, honey. Just Brenda is fine." She smiled at the mobian to which he nodded.

Together, the two looked up at the stage as things began to start.

For 24 year old Brenda Robinson things had gone super well for her since the shattered world crisis two years ago. With her smash hit articles on things going down around the world, she finally got her big break and was able to move away from her crummy freelance writing jobs and into the Limelight when Empire City News called her up and asked her if she wanted to be an investigative reporter. Brenda couldn't have said yes faster and for about a year, she had been happily doing her dream job as a top notch investigative journalist. But then, Eggman had taken over and things had gotten far more dangerous for her. It all started when she was simply reporting on the resistance and the great things that they were doing to save the day, she had even run into Sonic again and had even scored some interviews with Knuckles the Echidna. But things changed and changed a lot when Eggman had officially taken over the world and taken control of the world's broadcasting. Brenda's job had turned from investigative journalist hitting the hard facts on the world's problems to personal news anchor for the Eggman Empire and needless to say, that wasn't so great. She hated what the world had become under the Eggman Empire's influence. She was forced to give all this prewritten garbage about how great of an Emperor Eggman was and how grateful they were to be under his protection, but she knew the truth and hated every bit of it. Eggman kept a close eye on her, making sure she wouldn't do or say anything that would make the world question her loyalty to him and as such, her dream job became a living nightmare.

If she had her way, she would've made a hard hitting article on Sonic's Return, thanking Chaos that he was alive, safe and sound and ready to take back the world. She would've loved to have been the one to interview Sonic right after he kicked Metal Sonic to the curb and freed Sunset Heights. She would've loved to do a lot of things.

But instead she was stuck here, dutifully reporting for the Eggman Empire and needless to say, it was not a pleasant experience.

The only bright side was that she was able to save her poor cameraman Carl from being put into that floating prison on the Death Egg when Eggman had taken out world media, insisting that the koala had the expertise that a machine couldn't give.

Carl had been by her side ever since she had first been brought onto Empire City News. With all the trouble she had gotten into all over the world, she was thankful to have the bear by her side as they took on the world's news together. Carl had quickly become one of her best friends and she was glad that she still had him in this terrible situation she had been brought into.

The two stood together as they watched the curtain open and the Eggman Empire Anthem blare. **[2]**

Immediately people began to clap and cheer at the very sight of the world's dictator as he stood proud and tall behind a podium while Shadow, Zavok and Infinite sat in chairs at the far end of the stage and a screen was shown behind him dawning the Eggman Empire Logo.

"Citizens of the Eggman Empire, never fear! Your benevolent Emperor is here!" He boomed to which the cheers got even louder.

No one was really sure if it was artificial or if things were that messed up in Metropolis, but needless to say the cheers got even greater at his very presence.

"Thank you, thank you, I am grateful for the warm welcome!" He grinned. "You're all far too kind."

With that, he waited a moment for the cheers to go down a bit before he continued. "While I'm sure you're all happy to see me and I of course am very happy to see all of you lovely people, I unfortunately come bearing bad news…"

He then gestured to the screen which changed to images of the resistance taking back Sunset Heights, but slightly edited to make it seem like they were causing more destruction. When Silver brought down the Death Egg Robot, they angled it so that it looked like it took out an entire city block, the footage of Sonic saving those people from the collapsing building was shown so that it appeared he put them under there to get crushed and it only got worse and worse as he showed more and more doctored footage.

"Now, I know the footage you see before you is very, very disturbing but it is necessary to show the true evil that these terrorists known as the resistance have plagued upon our fine empire." Eggman explained. "These horrible people seem to be under the understanding that somehow, through their violent acts of oppression and upsetting the natural order that they are helping the world? But me, all I see are a bunch of no good criminals trying to topple the safety that the Eggman Empire has worked so hard to build over this past year."

People started booing at that, shouting horrible things about the resistance and all as Eggman continued.

"I know, I know… It's absolutely horrible!" Eggman agreed. "But unfortunately, things only get worse from there. As the world knows, Sonic the Hedgehog: a previously eliminated threat, has somehow resurfaced and has made his way back into the spot of Public Enemy Number 1. His horrid acts of instilling so called "hope" and "justice" within the people are not at all condoned by the Eggman Empire and will be swiftly dealt with, I can assure you."

At that, the screen began to show the fight between Metal Sonic and his eventual destruction.

"Even one of our beloved generals was destroyed by this menace. Metal Sonic suffered a heavy blow, a tragic blow that will be sending ripples within the world and the empire for generations. But we will not forget him and we will show Sonic and his little band of rebels that we do not stand for their mockery of what we've all worked so hard for! We'll show the resistance that they will not be allowed to tarnish the good name of the empire! We'll show the resistance that they will not hurt our homes or our families any longer!"

The crowd erupted into a thunderous applause at that as Eggman took a bow and the curtain closed.

With everything said and done, Eggman turned to face his remaining generals who all immediately rose from their seats.

As he advanced, Cubot and Orbot appeared with both a water bottle and face cloth respectively. Cubot handing him the bottle of water while Orbot dabbed the beating sweat off of the Doctor's forehead.

When he was done he let out a sigh of relief. "Phew… Addressing the empire can be a lot of work, I'll tell you."

"Indeed." Infinite nodded. "Are you alright, doctor?"

"Me? I'm fine. I'm more worried about our next course of action now that Sonic has returned and it's clear that while our ground control certainly did some good it didn't quite get us to where we needed to be."

The others nodded.

"But right now, the most important thing is that _someone_ has to redeem themselves after their blunder in the Death Egg earlier this week."

He glared intensely at Zavok to which the Zeti put a hand to his chest and bowed his head. "My liege, please forgive me. I had no idea that Sonic would-"

"Save it. We already talked about that."

He rose his head. "Of course."

"But no, I have an assignment for you that even you can't mess up, Zavok. You see, as you know we have the operation in the Mystic Jungle going down, getting rid of the silly ancient temple and building the custom Eggman Empire Casino for the rich fools here in Metropolis."

"Yes?"

"Progress has slowed down lately and I need someone to burn down the forest to ensure that construction gets back to optimal levels. I'm entrusting you to oversee the destruction of the Mystic Jungle."

Zavok nodded. "Consider it done, Doctor."

"Good. Because if you mess even this up, there will be consequences…"

Zavok knew full and well of the consequences of failing Eggman. He had seen it firsthand that year ago when he was first shoved into Eggman's ranks.

 **~Trials of War~**

After everything had happened with Sonic and Eggman on the Lost Hex, The Deadly Six could finally rest and not worry about idiots going around and controlling them or kicking their butts.

Life was good and they couldn't be happier. Well, everyone except for Zavok that was.

At that time, the Zeti was in Lava Mountain Zone underneath a waterfall of lava lifting thousands of tons worth of boulders over his head as if he were lifting weights at the gym.

"Four thousand five hundred forty four… Five thousand four hundred forty five… four thousand five hundred forty six…"

He grunted, letting out a low growl as it began to take it's toll but he refused to give up. Pressing on and doing more reps.

"Four thousand five hundred forty seven… four thousand five hundred forty eight…"

"Zavok…" A voice called out to him.

"Four thousand five hundred forty nine…"

"Zavok."

"Five thousand five hundred and fifty…" He wheezed, letting out a gasp, but still continued. "Five thousand five hundred and fifty one…"

"Zavok!"

Immediately, the Zeti's concentration was broken, making him drop the rock into the pool of lava and for a massive splash to let out.

"Who dares?!" Zavok snapped.

"Just an old man who would like to talk to his young friend for a moment."

Immediately, Zavok's entire demeanor changed going from hostile to one of the upmost respect. "Master! Of course!"

He swam over to the edge of the rock, looking up at him. "Please, Master. Relax. Join me in the lava, it's just sizzling this morning."

Zik just shook his head. "I am fine, thank you."

"Very well. What brings you here on this fine morning, Master?"

"I… am concerned."

"Ah yes. I share your worry as well. Ever since that troublesome hedgehog and that annoying doctor located our land, we as a species have been exposed to-"

But the older one rolled his eyes and brushed him off. "Yes, yes. That. That is a concern. But that is not my problem right now."

"Then what is?"

"My concern is for you, my pupil."

"Me? But what for?"

"Since those two left our land, you have been throwing yourself into your training. More than you should."

"But of course." Zavok insisted. "The first time we are visited by someone from the outside world and not only are we conquered but later made fools of by another? That is unacceptable. If I am to be a good leader, then I am to be sure that I can protect the others from any form of threat, whether it be Sonic, Eggman or any other adversary we may face."

"And while admirable, pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion is not going to help our people." Zik shakes his head. "Many a time have myself or one of the others come to find you passed out on the floor of Lava Mountain. Why, young Zor even thought you had passed on once and said he wished it were him!"

"Yes, I may push myself to far, but it is for our own good…" Zavok insisted.

"And that is _not_ how I taught you!" Zik snapped. "We may believe in strength above all, but there is nothing but foolishness and defeat to be found in what you're doing here!"

Zavok furrowed his brow. " _I_ am only doing what is best for us! We were conquered in mere seconds last time due to _my_ lack of strength, not yours, not anyone else's, _mine_! And I refuse to allow that to happen again, by making myself stronger I will be able to lead us into a brighter future."

Zik was slightly taken aback by this. Zavok had never snapped at him. "You need to watch your mouth and understand who it is your talking to!"

"With all due respect, Master but I have long since reached maturity and am the leader of the Deadly Six. I can speak to anyone I want in any way I choose."

"And who put you in this place?"

Zavok growled. "I-"

 _ **Boom!**_

The sound of cannon fire let off.

Immediately, both Zeti broke out of their argument and looked to the sound to see smoke off in the distance.

"That came from Windy Hill!" Zik said, narrowing his eyes at the sight of rising smoke in the distance.

Zavok immediately hopped out of the pool, shaking the lava off of his body. "We need to get there right away."

Together, the Zeti raced towards Windy Hill Zone, forgetting any and all transgressions they had with each other for the time being.

When they had arrived, the sight well… the sight was something to behold.

Zazz, Zomom, Zeena and Zor were lying in a pile badly bruised and beaten.

" _ **What happened here?!"**_ Both Zavok and Zik roared.

At that, the two turned at the sound of a familiar droning, a sound that Zavok knew all too well.

Doctor Eggman appeared, flying down on his Eggmobile with Cubot and Orbot close behind.

"Finally, the man of the hour has arrived!" Eggman grinned.

At that, both Zeti took battle ready stances, glaring intently at him. "What do you want, Eggman?"

"Funny you should ask, because the thing I want is you, Zavok."

"Me? What?"

"Oh yes. You see, I am getting a little group and-"

"Not interested."

"But you haven't even heard-"

"No."

"But I-"

"I will not say it again, leave now or I will not hesitate to destroy you, Doctor!"

"I don't like his tone, Doctor. Are you sure this is the one you want?" A new voice said.

This took both Zavok and Master Zik aback before both got into even tenser battle positions, Zavok with his fists held high and Master Zik with his cane dangerously poised and ready to be used.

At that, Infinite hovered down on the ground before them, glaring both Zeti down.

"No, no this is exactly the one I want, Infinite."

Both Zavok and Zik narrowed their eyes at the new foe. "What is this, Eggman? You bring one of your lackeys here to do your dirty work?"

Infinite shook his head. "I am far more than a simple lackey. I am what you would call… the ultimate key to world domination."

"You?" Zavok scoffed. "Don't make me laugh. You look as if I could crush you without breaking a sweat."

But Zik said nothing, glaring at Infinite. Something was _off_ about him, but he couldn't tell what.

That's when Eggman reentered the conversation. "Now, now… there's no need for fighting. At least not yet."

But no one dared ease up.

"Zavok, I am giving you the once in a life time chance to become a member of the Eggman Empire! If you join us now, your home and your family will be spared."

"And if I refuse?"

Eggman raised an eyebrow at this, but couldn't help but grin at him. And then, he snapped his fingers.

Before Zavok could even react Infinite appeared in front of him, sending a punch out towards the mountain of a Zeti that would've even knocked him off his feet.

Would have.

Just as quickly as Infinite appeared, Master Zik had also stepped before him, his staff meeting Infinite's fist and forcing him back.

Zavok was shocked beyond belief. "Master!"

The older Zeti grunted. "Zavok, stand back!"

But Infinite, he couldn't help but grin underneath his mask. "Well now, you are an interesting one, aren't you Master Zik? I was told of the great power of the former leader of the Deadly Six, but to experience it first hand? I must say, it's astonishing."

"My people thrive on strength and nothing more. I may be old and out of my prime, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Then show me!"

And with that, the battle began.

Immediately, Infinite went on the attack sending a volley of punches and kicks at the Zeti leader to which the Master easily was able to block and parry with his staff.

Eggman looked interested as the two battled on to which Zavok looked on in shock.

It wasn't until the two clashed again, foot to staff and impacting so hard that it caused wind to be kicked up by the blow that had even Zavok have to brace himself for the impact.

With that, the two jumped away from each other and quickly Infinite fired a blast of energy from his hand that was easily met by another from the end of the elder Zeti's staff.

The two collided and caused a small explosion that obscured their vision for a bit.

When the smoke finally cleared, Infinite emerged, racing towards Zik with the red streak trailing behind him.

But he was stopped in his tracks by a fireball that struck him in his side and threw him face down on the ground.

Zik was surprised at this and looked to see his successor let out a triumphant smirk at that before he jumped into the air and landed atop Infinite and grabbed him by the mask.

Viciously, the Zeti slammed his head on the ground, doing so with such force that cracks were left in the ground.

He did this a few more times to which the jackal grunted with each blow.

But what Zavok didn't notice was when one of the jackal's clawed hands reached up to grab his own wrist.

It was only when he shakily rose to his feet, both hand's around Zavok's wrist that he took notice of his foe gaining the upper hand, but by then it was too late. Infinite took Zavok by the wrist and flung him across the field where he landed roughly against the rock. **[3]**

At that, Infinite fired a laser at the approaching Master Zik, causing him to crumple to the floor.

"Master!" Zavok cried.

The old Zeti tried to rise to his feet but Infinite was upon him, sending a roundhouse directly into his face, knocking him away from the cane and into a wall of his own.

At that, Infinite calmly walked over to the old one as he tried to rise to his feet, but found his body to weak.

But Zavok wasn't having any of that, with great effort, he was able to pull himself from the wall and charge at Infinite like a raging bull.

But without even looking at him, Infinite was able to grab him by one of his horns and slam him into the ground again. Infinite then fired another beam of energy into him as well, putting him in his place.

He could only watch as Infinite finally reached Master Zik and lifted him up into the air.

"Leave him alone!" Zavok roared at them, desperately trying to find his strength to get to jackal who would dare handle his master in that way.

At that, Eggman laughed. "Really now, Zavok? And here I thought you didn't have a care in the world for anyone? But this master of yours seems to have made you abandon everything I've known you for."

"I care for no one!" Zavok shouted.

"Then you should have no problem with Infinite destroying him." Eggman shrugged. "Infinite… if you would?"

At that, Infinite raised his hand towards the old master's head readying a beam of light that would end his life once and for all. The old man desperately tried to free himself from his grasp but to no avail.

Zavok's eyes shot between his master, Infinite and Eggman as he tried so hard to find the strength to rise, but he just could not. He didn't have the power to save his master, he wasn't strong enough. After all this time, he _still_ wasn't strong enough!

"Stop!" Zavok shouted, to which the jackal looked at him curiously. "I will do what you want, just leave him alone."

"Zavok, no!"

"Do you hear me doctor?!" Zavok shouted. "Call off your dog and I will do as you ask, just leave my master, my people and my home be."

At that, Infinite looked to Eggman, who nodded. Without a word, Infinite chucked him into the pile of Zeti. He lay there, groaning.

At that, Eggman grinned at him. "Now was that so hard, Zavok? I knew that with some coaxing you would come to see reason."

Zavok looked only at his Master that still looked at him with disapproval.

"Welcome to the Eggman Empire. We have a lot of work to do."

 **~Trials of War~**

Zavok couldn't help but sigh when he thought back to that day. When everything had changed and he found himself siding with Eggman. All of it, all of it was to make sure that Infinite would not bring harm to his master or his home and he knew that he had to do well in Mystic Jungle or else there would be consequences.

 **~Trials of War~**

When Sonic and Celeste had come back from Viemigos a few days prior, they were immediately put into the infirmary by Cream and Vanilla insisting that they needed to get a proper checkup after facing Infinite.

Even when they were sure that things were okay, they kept them under strict observation to make sure that things were okay.

Luckily for them, they had guests in the form of Mighty and Ray for Sonic and Beta Squad for Celeste.

Sonic, Mighty and Ray were still eagerly catching up with one another over everything they had missed over the past five years.

For Celeste, Beta Squad was talking animatedly about how they had faced Zavok back in Westopolis a few days prior.

"You should've been there, Cel!" Corvin grinned. "The big 'ol Zeti tried to grab Gadget by his belt when I socked him right in the mouth with my drill Wispon. It was awesome."

Fierro laughed. "I thought you said you pulled off a high speed aerial maneuver on your gear right into a roundhouse kick when you were telling Silver and the Chaotix the story yesterday."

"Yeah, I did. And after that, I flipped out of the roundhouse and socked him right in the mouth with my drill Wispon."

"Right…" Fierro laughed to which Celeste and the others did too.

"I'm telling you guys, it happened." Corvin insisted.

Rhythm ruffled up the feathers on top of his head and laughed. "Keep telling yourself that, bud."

Gadget rolled his eyes. "But after we took down Zavok and ran off, we were able to get a few new members of the resistance! Some former GUN members down there were more than willing to help join the fight and we were able to get them down here. It was great."

"That's great!" Celeste smiled. "Sounds like you guys did a lot better than me and Sonic did."

"Maybe in terms of getting members but you and Sonic fought Infinite and won!" Rhythm shouted.

"Yeah…" Celeste breathed.

"Is something the matter?" Gadget asked. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Wha-what? No!" Celeste stammered. She then forced a smile. "See, I'm perfectly fine!"

The young adults that made up Beta Squad looked between each other with concerned looks. This kid was definitely not fine.

Just as they were about to say something to her, the door slid open and in walked Vanilla. "Sonic, Celeste!"

"Yes?" They both asked.

"You two are free to go, it looks like everyone's being called down for a mission to be done and Knuckles has asked me to release you both."

They agreed and got out of their beds.

But before they left, Vanilla called out to them. "You two kids better not fight any serious threats like Infinite again, okay? You may have gotten out with just a few cuts and bruises but next time you could be seriously hurt!"

"Of course not. Never again." Celeste said.

"No promises!" The hog grinned as he stepped out.

Vanilla smiled. "Thank you so much for tha- wait, what?"

Sonic zoomed on down the hall at that to which the doctor shook her head. "Oh… Sonic."

Soon, everyone was in the mission room where they could see the map of the world focused on the Mystic Jungle. Large red classic Eggman logos were flashing over the Mystic Jungle as pictures of large fires flooded the screen.

Knuckles, who was at the head of the room, finally addressed everyone as the Mighty, Ray, Celeste and the Betas closed out the group.

"Happy that you all could join us cause we've got trouble."

Amy nodded. "That's right. As many of you know, the Mystic Jungle down on the border between Soumerica and the United Federation has been a target of the Eggman Empire since before the war had even started."

"Eggman has been so insistent on cutting down the forest and putting some sort of casino in its place. Pretty messed up stuff."

"But now, he seems to have wanted to speed up the process as massive fires have been spreading over the majority of the Mystic Jungle. We're not sure of the cause but these aren't natural, it must be some sort of massive robot doing the work."

"Which is why we'll be sending a chunk of our forces down in the Mystic Jungle today. Making sure that we protect the place."

Quickly their assignments were given out and to Celeste's surprise, she was assigned to…

"Sonic, you and Celeste will be heading down together through the outer edge of the casino to see if you can find the cause of the fires. Can you do that?" Amy asked.

"Sure thing, you up for a little romp through the forest, partner?" Sonic asked.

Celeste smiled. "Sure!"

"After last time's bout with Infinite I think it's important that you show the rookie here a thing or two about what to do in this sort of situation." Knuckles added. "So Sonic, you take the lead! Rookie… eh… just make sure you take good notes."

 **~Trials of War~**

On the tip of Soumerica, just south of the United Federation stood the Mystic Jungle a place shrouded in mystery. People didn't know whether it was the lush greenery that blanketed the luminous forest in shadows or if it was the rushing waters that made up aqua road or even the temple inside that connected the place to the Mystic Ruins down a little southward, there was something just so beautiful about the Mystic Jungle. This beauty could especially be found at night, when the place was bathed in the moonlight above that gave both the dimly lit temple a little more to it and the reflection of the moon in the waters below. The Mystic Jungle could be viewed as arguably one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

Or at least it was…

Since Eggman's rule had begun, this natural beauty had begun being torn down and in its place was a massive casino that Eggman had built to change the planet into his sick, twisted image. The natural light of the moon was pretty much overshadowed by the gigantic radiant buildings that glowed so brightly in the calm jungle, that when close, one would think it was daylight.

While a lot of these casino buildings were up and ready to go, disrupting the natural beauty of the forest, there was still a lot of forest left to cover and a large chunk of the Mystic Jungle stood proud and tall.

The only problem was, Eggman wasn't going to let that stay for long and as such, massive fires spread along the jungle bringing about destruction on the Mystic Jungle that the resistance did not stand for. Ships, similar to the ones on the Death Egg dropped bombs onto the ground to continue the blaze.

One such member of the resistance, a young bear wearing a forest ranger's uniform stood and looked out at the fiery inferno below. He took off his forest ranger hat and closed his eyes. "Only I can prevent this…" he swore as a single tear spilled out of his eye.

 **[4]** And at that moment, two blue blurs rushed past him at that, throwing him off his feet and onto the ground below.

"Whoops, sorry about that, Smokey!" Sonic called into his com as he and Celeste rushed down the road and into the jungle.

Amy's voice came to life on the coms. "Agent Smokey, will you please report to your station! Nobody likes the wildfires and we'll be taking care of this but everyone needs to be in their spot."

"R-right, sorry 'bout that."

The bear then looked to the edge of the road and swore that he would prevent wildfires before heading into the blaze below.

Returning to Sonic and Celeste they were out and about through the luminous forest.

At that the coms lit up and Knuckles voice came to life. "Eggman's forces are scattering bombs like confetti!"

"We can't go on like this!" Amy cried.

"The whole place is going up in flames." Sonic announced. "Not the kind of fireworks I like."

He then turned to Celeste and grinned. "Come on partner, let's put out the-"

But the young girl was nowhere to be found.

"Uh… I just lost Celeste. Should I go after her?"

"Focus on the mission, Sonic." Knuckles commanded.

Begrudgingly, the hedgehog nodded and continued on his path through the forest.

Before him, several of the strange ostrich Badniks, which he had recently learned were called Egg Evaders, were running along the forest floor doing their best to get away from him.

Sonic grinned at this and stepped it up, calling upon the power of the boost and ramming into several of them causing a flurry of explosions to be left behind.

"Heh, these things are joke." Sonic smirked. "It's as if Eggman made them just for me to destroy."

Soon, the forest began to get denser, forcing Sonic to make a turn into one of the temples. There, he found the way lighted up by several torches along the walls and the natural glow that came from the strange almost glasslike markings along the walls. But the thing that he disliked about the place was the amount of robots scattered around.

Right at the entrance, Sonic had to come out of his boost to slide underneath laser fire from two Eggpawns and right into them, breaking them to pieces.

Once done, he quickly continued through the temple where a slope led deeper inside but a platform was just out of his reach, leading above.

Choosing to take the upper path, Sonic backed away from the platform. He then jumped through the air, landing atop it and continuing his way up through the temple.

He ran up a slope a few more feet before a few Eggpongs came into view, their blasters trained on him.

Sonic leapt into the air, just before they could hit him and homed into the one at the head of the group and uncurled, opting to send a roundhouse into one of them, knocking it into the one at the right side before he landed in a stomp and boosted into the last one.

Keeping up his speed, he proceeded where he found some swinging platforms inside. But he shrugged them off, opting to use his speed to lead through the air and land on the other side.

When he did land, he didn't expect to smash into the three roaders that had been waiting for him and hadn't even had the chance to attack him.

Continuing down the halls another Eggpong had appeared, this one actually caught him by surprise, and fired. Sonic was quick, but this shot had grazed his arm, leaving him to let out a hiss of pain at the blow before he quickly covered it. But before it could fire again, he raced towards it in a boost. Destroying it instantly.

Sonic couldn't help but grin at that only for his face to fall as he quickly dove out of the way of a trio of Roaders.

The three veered back around, trying their best to catch Sonic only for the hero to jump into the air and home in on each of them.

He dashed off again, ramming his way through a quartet of Eggpongs before he found himself out of the jungle and into a brand new scene.

He was out in the forest again, although this time, he was surprised to find himself on a halfpipe of wood made out of one of the trees that he zoomed along through. He couldn't help but be reminded of his time on the Lost Hex as he did this.

Thorny brambles were also in his path but he easily quickstepped out of the way of each of them and rammed into any of the Eggpongs or Egg Evaders that came into his way.

Once the halfpipe was done, he hopped off and was met with strange new robots that resembled actual eggs and had propellers on their heads. Each of them were scattered throughout the air and dropped bombs on the ground below without issue.

Sonic homed into each and every one of them, leaving nothing but bits of scrap in his wake as he continued on the other side.

There, he raced on through a little bit more of the temple before he arrived on another halfpipe and did the same as before.

Soon, Sonic the Hedgehog arrived at a good spot in the forest where he could get a good view of what they assumed was the giant robot destroying the forest. And he found exactly what they were looking for except it wasn't a giant robot.

"Ames, Knux, I found the source of the fires." Sonic said into his com.

The ground then shook around him as it caused more damage.

"And lemme just say, it thinks it's deadly…"

At that, it revealed itself to be none other than Zavok riding atop one of the mechanical dragons that Sonic knew all too well from he and Zavok's Dragon Dance on the Lost Hex that year ago. But if that wasn't bad enough, then flanking him were two more of the massive mechanical dragons, each of them shooting deadly elliptical beams of death that tore into the forest and set more of the trees ablaze.

Zavok let out an evil laugh as he beat his fists against his chest and let out a deathly roar as they continued on through the forest to which Sonic jumped from his perch and raced on after it.

 **~Trials of War~**

 **[5]** One moment the girl was running alongside Sonic on a mission to save the forest from being set on fire, the next she was plucked out of the air and being dragged off somewhere by a massive figure through the moonlit battlefield. She thrashed about, desperately trying to get away from her captor, fearing that somehow she had been caught by the Eggman Empire and was about to be hauled off to the Death Egg or worse.

"Help!" Celeste cried out to which the figure stopped.

In a slow, deep voice, the figure nodded. "Yes, help."

"What?" Celeste asked confusedly.

She was surprised by what she saw when the figure turned back to her and revealed himself to be a gigantic purple cat with beady yellow eyes and white fur gracing its belly. At this, Celeste was rather confused and got even more confused when the cat said, "Please help me find my frog." revealing him to be none other than Big the Cat.

"What?" Celeste said confused.

"My frog!" Big announced. "He got lost in the woods a little bit before the fires started. I'm so worried for my poor Froggy."

Incredulously, Celeste just shook her head. "I- I don't know what's going on."

"Then maybe I can help you figure that out while you help me find my frog."

"I guess!" Celeste just shrugged as the cat dragged her off.

And so that was the case as they continued on through the forest for a bit, just Big and Celeste walking through the Mystic Jungle in silence for a bit.

That is until trouble found them.

"Uh oh." Big said.

Celeste who was still just kinda letting life take her wherever it wanted to looked up from where she was sitting.

"What's wrong?"

"It looks like some of Eggman's robots have come to fight."

"What?!"

At that, Big let her go and she scrambled up to her feet where she could see that he was correct. A few of the robots had in fact come to join them. She spotted four Eggpongs and four Buzzbombers, each with their blasters trained on them, ready to fight.

Immediately, Celeste pulled out her electric Wispon. "Stay back! I can handle these guys."

But Big just brushed her off. "Oh don't worry. I can help you with these."

"Uh… I don't think you understand. These robots are deadly killing machines."

But Big still refused. "I've fought these things for years, don't worry."

"Years?"

At that, the fight started and Big lumbered ahead of her, jumping up into the air and slamming into not one, not two, but three of the Buzz Bombers in one swoop while the other quickly escaped and raced towards Celeste.

Celeste just stared in awe at the sight of the gigantic cat fighting off the robot's only to be brought back into reality when the remaining Buzz Bomber knocked her off her feet, her Wispon clattering to the floor next to her.

Quickly, she rolled out of the way of a shot from the robot before she looked up at it and fired out her grappling hook right into the head of the robot, breaking it apart into pieces.

Celeste smiled at this only to run out of the way of the attacks from the Eggpongs.

Luckily for her, Big had gotten up from where he stood and sent a massive punch that broke one of the robots apart in an instant completely shocking her. He was so strong.

Luckily for her, in her attempt to run away from the shots, she had also gotten to her discarded weapon and quickly picked it up. Pushing on the trigger so that the electric whip came to life and and with the flick of the wrist sent a wave of electricity out towards the remaining Eggpongs destroying them instantly.

"We did it!" Big grinned. "You did a good job, uh… I'm sorry, what is your name, friend?"

Celeste smiled. "My name is Celeste. What is yours?"

"I'm Big the Cat."

"Nice to meet you, Big."

"You too, Celeste. I always like meeting new friends."

Celeste couldn't help but laugh. "Me too. So… where do you think your frog ran off to?"

"I'm not sure, when the fires broke out we got separated. I hope poor Froggy is okay."

"Well, I'm sure we'll find him. As a member of the resistance, I guess it's my job to help people out with whatever problems they might have. So I guess I'll help you find your frog."

"Thank you Celeste."

"Sure thing."

With that, the duo continued down the road, this time walking side by side.

It wasn't long before they reached the entrance to one of the temples but unfortunately for them, a pack of Roaders stood before them. Five of them, each revving up their engines and looking dangerously at the duo.

"Let's take them, Big!" Celeste grinned

The cat nodded and smiled.

With that, Celeste ran towards them much faster than Big did and lashed her whip out at the one at the head of the group, before quickly diving out of the way of another one.

This one had ended up running into Big who surprisingly had an umbrella out that he effortlessly swung at one of the roaders which actually knocked it off course and knocked it into one of the other two.

With that, Celeste quickly got up and did the same as before sending her whip into one of the two and soon, they had finished off the fight.

As they continued on, Celeste couldn't help but get even happier with all the battles going on. She didn't have to worry about her fighting, she was safe and she could handle missions with the resistance, even this odd one with helping this guy find his missing frog. There was nothing for her to worry about.

Nothing… unless Infinite showed up.

In Veimigos, Infinite had been so unbelievably powerful that he had even put Sonic off balance. The two of them had barely saved the town and wouldn't have gotten out of the ordeal alive had it not been for that strange power they had pulled off and the appearance of Mighty and Ray.

She knew taking out a few robots was child's play but when it came to some of the bigger threats out there did she really stand a chance. Did she stand a chance against the leader of the Deadly Six? Did she stand a chance against the Ultimate Life Form? Did she stand a chance against the literal God of Destruction? Did she stand a chance against whatever the heck Infinite was? She didn't think so and she was scared to face them.

She closed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair wondering what exactly she was going to do if she ever came face to face with one of Eggman's generals. She was scared. She was so unbelievably scared and didn't know what to do. Would she ever make it out of this war?

At that, Big cleared his throat. "Uh… Celeste?"

Celeste opened her eyes and was surprised to see that they had reached the end of the temple and now faced a small waterfall that lead outside in the greater jungle below.

She squinted and could see what looked like a wooden waterslide that lead down below.

"What is this?"

"It looks like fun!" Big beamed and with that he grabbed her by the arm and ran out to the slide.

"Wait!" Celeste cried out.

But it was too late, she and Big had already burst through the water and were now on the slides going down to the ground below.

Luckily for her, Big had placed her on his belly so that she was able to use him as a sort of floatation device on the water. With that, they began to lazily go down the waterfall.

"Well, I guess that works." Celeste shrugged. "Thank you, Big. You didn't have to do this."

"Ah, no worries. I don't mind being a little wet."

She let out a smile and nodded. But her eyes betrayed her looking sullen and scared for what would come in the future and this didn't go unnoticed by her companion.

"Is something troubling you, friend?"

Celeste was quick to deny it. "What… no? Everything is fine."

Big pursed his lips together. "Well, you don't look fine."

"I am."

Big nodded. "Well… I may not know what's wrong. But I always know that it isn't good to keep things inside. Sometimes, we just need to talk. Can you please tell me what's wrong, Celeste?"

Celeste sighed. "You're not going to stop asking if I don't."

"No, I would." Big admitted. "I know I shouldn't make someone talk when they don't want to. But… I can tell that you're someone that needs it. And I like to help my friends, so I want to listen."

Celeste sighed. Big was right, she did need to talk. But it was hard. "I just… I don't know, Big. I-I'm just scared."

"Scared of what friend?"

"Of everything, this war, Eggman, the crazy people leading his armies, everything going on!"

Big looked up at her.

"Every time I step out on the battlefield, I just can't help but think that there's no way I'm going to make it out of this alive. Yet somehow, through dumb luck I'm able to not get crushed by a train, save Sonic the freaking Hedgehog of all people, go toe to toe with the most dangerous thing in the world. And what's gonna happen when I run out of luck? I'm here now and away from all the action, but will I really be able to see the end of this war? Will there ever even be an end?! Where will I be when all of this is over?!"

"I just- I don't know if I'm good enough for any of this." Celeste shook her head. "When I started all of this, I wanted to make a difference. But now I think I'm in over my head and there's no way out. I'm scared and I don't know what to do."

"I'm scared, Big."

Together, the two floated down the river waterslide after Celeste's outburst. With nothing but the sounds of the roaring waters and fires to sound all around them. The moonlight was all around and the shadows were on the ground in this moonlit battlefield.

A few moments and finally Big spoke up. "It's okay to be scared, Celeste."

"No, it's not. Not when everyone is counting on you to be there for the world."

"It's not about not being scared. I get scared sometimes too. Sometimes when I'm alone or with Froggy or even with Sonic and the others. There are a lot of scary things out this world especially with Eggman is out there."

Celeste looked down at the rushing water, hugging herself tighter.

"It's about helping your friends even though you're scared. It helped me when I was with Sonic and friends fighting Metal Sonic."

Celeste looked down at him in surprise. "You fought Metal Sonic?"

Big smiled and nodded. "Yeah! It was with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow and all the others. We had so much fun and were even looking for Froggy then too. Even though I was scared, I knew that as long as I was helping my friends and that they were helping me, we could beat all the big scary guys."

"I know it's hard to fight. I don't like it too… But fighting means we get to help our friends and make sure they're safe."

Celeste looked up at the sky, basking in the stark moonlight above.

"But the most important thing is that you know that when the fight is done, you can come back to the smiling faces of your friends."

Celeste sat there for a bit, looking up at the moon and taking a moment to ponder the cat's words as they lazily floated down the river. Celeste could tell that Big wasn't the brightest of the bunch, but could also see that he meant well and honestly? Despite his simplicity, he was right. Her friends meant the world to her and she'd do anything to help both them and the world.

Celeste couldn't help but let out a small smile at that. "You're right, Big. I shouldn't give up. Not when there's still so much to do and when our friends need so much help. We're gonna win this war and somehow, someway I just gotta keep fighting."

"That's right!"

"And I'm gonna start by doing everything I can to find your frog."

"Thank you, friend!"

Celeste just shook her head, giving the cat a warm smile. "No. Thank you, Big."

Soon, the two continued on their way, fighting through more robots and going down more of the water slides.

It wasn't until they got to a lake where they saw a little green frog hopping along the shoreline to which Big was immediately ecstatic.

"Froggy!" He cried out as he barreled towards the frog.

Quickly, he was able to scoop the frog up in his arms and tightly hug him.

Celeste couldn't help but watch with a smile as she watched the cat throw his friend in the air, elated in the fact that they were finally reunited.

It wasn't quite what she expected from the Mystic Jungle, but regardless…

Mission accomplished.

 **~Trials of War~**

"Only we can prevent these wildfires!" Smokey announced for the umpteenth time since they had started.

Almost unanimously, everyone that had their com on shouted three words. _**"Shut up, Smokey!"**_

Smokey the Bear was slightly taken aback by this but zipped it, opting to get back to work with the fires below.

The resistance was in a bit of a jam at the moment what with the entire forest on fire around them. With Sonic and Celeste having gone after the main source, everybody else was playing fireman in the woods and it was not pleasant.

It was absolute chaos. Some were running around with pails of water, others with high pressurized water guns and a few had hoses. It was not a fun time for the resistance at all.

For Silver the Hedgehog, you could imagine the immense concentration it took him to not take a single psychic wind to take out the flames in fear that it would only make it worse. So instead he took to directing people the best he could.

"Vector, I need you on that wall of fire over there, make sure it doesn't get too high or we're gonna have a massive problem on our hands."

"On it!" The Crocodile nodded, getting up and hefting a large barrel of water over his head before he chucked it at the same wall of fire that Silver was referring to.

"Betas, circle that tree, it's looking like it's about to catch on fire."

The Betas did just that and doused the smoking wood making sure that the smoking tree didn't get any further than it had already gotten.

"Smokey, I swear if you say another word you're going to be headed on the first shuttle back to base. Make yourself useful and actually put out some fires!"

The bear nodded and nearly tripped over himself attempting to pick up a pail of water and go to a tiny burning bush.

But things were going well and it looked like the resistance was somehow managing the problem, at least in Silver's sector anyway.

Things were still bad though and they could really use some good news.

And that's when Amy's voice came into his com. "Sonic has just found the source of the fires. It's Zavok."

"What, that monster can breathe fire now?" Silver asked.

"What?! No! Well, yes. But that's not what he's doing."

Knuckles voice chimed in. "According to Sonic, he's got three dragon badniks that fire elliptical beams on the forest floor. Normally this would just leave anything fried but in a forest with trees like this, well you've got what you're looking at."

Rouge chuckled on her end. "Should've known the big boy would be behind this. But if it's just him, Sonic should be able to handle it."

"He's already chasing him down now." Amy said. "Shouldn't be long until-"

An alarm started blaring on her end. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Looks like you guys got trouble, some of the Egg fleet are coming back around with more bombs."

"Any and all fliers to the skies right now, take out those ships!"

Silver nodded. "Hey, anybody that can fly with me. We've got company! Espio, you're in charge of this place till I get back."

He nodded. "Right."

With that, Silver took to the skies and was shortly followed by a mess of flying mobians like Rouge, Ray and Charmy, but joining them were a few on extreme gears like Corvin.

They all flew to the skies and spotted ten ships in total soaring towards them.

At the sight of the Mobians they all fired on them, causing them to scatter.

"Everybody take on the closest ship!" Silver said. "Make sure none of them drop their cargo and if they go down try to get them into the water!"

With that, Silver shot himself forward, taking on one of the ships.

He started things off by producing a psychic knife that the ship easily veered out of the way of before diving down and firing short rounds of energy at him.

He tucked and rolled through the air, avoiding the blasts and then covered himself in his energy. Spinning with incredible speeds before drilling straight into the ship and slicing it clean in half.

"Yes!" Silver cheered as he pumped his fist and dashed off.

Rouge landed on her hands and knees atop the glass hull of one of the ships. The ship tried to shake the bat off but she kept good hold of it, albeit shakily.

Slowly she was able to rise to her feet carefully keeping her balance. With that, she smiled, raised her leg as high in the air as she could, before bringing her foot down on it in a sharp kick. The thing immediately lost control at this and began to lose altitude. Rouge flew off as it crashed into the nearby lake.

She dusted her hands off with a smirk before flying off.

Ray used a similar tactic as her, having landed on the glass hull of his ship before revving up a spindash on the cockpit, sending parts flying and soon breaking the ship apart, causing it to go falling into the ocean.

Corvin was on his gear, doing all kinds of tricks as the ships fired on him. He weaved in between blows, did kick flips and the like before finally he flew high up into the air over the ship. He then came down on it and actually jumped off his gear, revving up his drill wispon and drove right through it like a knife through melted butter.

Charmy took down to the ground, where one of the ships was chasing after the bee, weaving in between trees, to which the ship quickly followed after. But soon, it wasn't able to keep up with the young bee who had far more maneuverability in the trees than he did, causing it to crash into the trees and explode into a fiery ball of flame.

Very quickly, more and more of the ships went down before there were none left.

"All clear for now. Be on standby if anymore ships come by. Good work, guys."

 **~Trials of War~**

"I've got Zavok in my sights, about to make contact!"

"Be careful Sonic!"

Sonic grinned. "He's the one who's gonna need to be careful when I'm up there, it'll be over before you know it, Ames." **[6]**

Sonic dashed off, doing his best to tail the three mechanical dragons as they broke down the forest. Fires spread, trees went flying and an angry Zeti happily stood atop the head of the ships watching it all.

The three dragons shot down large blue beams from their underbellies that tore into the forest floor and made anything instantly set ablaze from where it was.

Sonic dodged each and every one of these beams, quickstepping out of the way no problem.

Left, right, center, left, right again. Sonic was used to this song and dance.

Soon, he made it to the tail end of the dragons where he got a look to see how he could get up there. At the ends of them, there were these large blue mechanical balls that seemed to pulsate with blue electricity whenever the dragons fired they would be electrified with blue electricity which the hog knew not to touch in fear of being electrified.

He waited and waited and soon, he found the perfect moment before he homed in on the ball on the left dragon which propelled him into the air enough to find his way aboard.

Immediately, when he homed in the dragon shook, to which the Zeti controlling it let out a gasp as he carefully tried to regain his balance.

"What was that?!"

"Yo, Zavok! Ya' miss me?!" Sonic shouted.

Zavok turned around and was shocked to see Sonic the hedgehog at the end of the ship. "You!" He roared. "I am not letting you make a fool of me again!"

"Siding with Eggman already does that for you, buddy. Me kicking your butt only makes it worse." Sonic snarked.

With that, Sonic began to race off atop of the dragons. Every time they fired more of the beams of the elliptical beams down on the forest floor, they would electrify. Sonic had to keep watch of each of them, to make sure he wouldn't get hit, quickstepping away from them to avoid it all.

When he finally reached the end, Zavok faced him, starting off with a punch aimed for the hedgehog's chest that he easily slid under.

Using his momentum, he hoped up and gave him an uppercut to the jaw that mad the Zeti grunt and grit his teeth in pain.

"See, I'm more than enough to take you on, buddy." Sonic grinned. "Kicked your butt on the death egg and I can do it now."

"Not if I can help it!" With that, Zavok scooped Sonic up in one quick swoop of the arm. Before Sonic could even figure out what was going on, Sonic chucked him off of the dragon to which he roughly landed against one of the casino buildings.

The hedgehog groaned at this, but knew he had to go and catch the Zeti. So like that, he continued off again.

He worked his way through the same process dodging the lasers coming out of the bottom of the dragon badniks before he homed in on the tail, this time on the right one and was off again.

Zavok wasn't letting him get close this time though. When he saw the Hedgehog aboard, he beat his fists against his chest twice and let out a low, monsterish growl.

"If you think I will let you get the best me again, then you are surely mistaken. Burn Sonic!"

With that, he fired off rounds of fire, forcing the hog to dodge not only the electrified scales of the dragons, but also the deadly fireballs from the Zeti's maw.

As he dodged he grinned. "The old fire trick again? Come on, Zavok? You know I'm way too fast for that!"

And he was right, he didn't let a single one of the balls of fire hit him. When he finally reached the Zeti, rather than using fireballs he took to actual flame, using a more dragon like breath of fire to ward off the intruding hedgehog. Sonic stayed back not really sure what to do.

He wondered, could his boost aura protect him? It should technically be fast enough to ward off the flame, right?

He smirked. Only one way to find out.

And with that, he kicked up his speed and boosted into the firebreathing Zeti.

Zavok's eyes widened at this as the hog came into him, full force. The flame did not hit him, actually being blown back into the face of the Zeti. While the flames itself were ineffective, the force of the hog knocked the wind out of him, making him gasp out in shock.

Sonic took the opportunity, choosing to send a couple right and left hooks at the Zeti's chest that did a bit of a number on him. But in the middle of his flurry of punches, Zavok was able to come too, grabbing his left and his right.

Sonic grinned sheepishly at this to which Zavok furrowed his brow.

Faster than he could've accounted for, Zavok knocked his head into him and hit him hard. Sonic was left a little dazed by the thickskulled Zeti before he grabbed him once again and chucked him overboard.

This time, Sonic landed on the forest floor, seeing stars.

"Come on, Sonic! You're really gonna take that?" Knuckles remarked.

Sonic shook it off, getting to his feet. "Yeah, yeah… I'm going. I'd like to see you try this."

"Heh. If it were me it'd be over already!"

With that, Sonic ran off again, dodging each and every one of the lasers and homing into the center dragon.

This time, Zavok decided to forget about piloting the dragons focusing only on Sonic.

When he shot fire from his maw, he didn't look to see that the dragons began to fly into one of the casinos, completely breaking it apart and adding falling debris to the list of things that Sonic needed to dodge. As if the electrified floor and the fire breathing Zeti weren't enough.

But soon, he reached the end and faced Zavok one more time.

 **~Trials of War~**

Celeste walked through the forest with Big with Froggy in hand.

"You know, Big." She smiled. "You're alright. Thank you for helping me."

"Of course, friend. Thank you for helping me find Froggy!"

"Always happy to help."

At that, Celeste brought her hand to her chin in thought. "You know, I wonder how Sonic's doing? I hope he's had an easier time than I have."

At that, the two began to hear some rumbling in the forest next to them. "Do you hear something, Big?"

 **~Trials of War~**

Zavok sent a right hook at the hedgehog to which he easily dodged, doing the wave with his arms as he did so.

"Ey!" He laughed at that.

"Enough of this foolishness!" Zavok steamed, scooping him up again and chucking him so far and high off the ship that Sonic should have never came back.

Unfortunately he was wrong as this time, the hedgehog was prepared. He got into ball form and hit a tree, to which he easily bounced off of and soon, hit another and another and another. He was like a pinball bouncing between bumpers with how many trees he bounced off of and the Zeti could only watch in confusion.

But soon, the hedgehog ended up behind him and was homing in onto him fast to which the Zeti's eyes widened.

Quickly, he rose his hands up in defense in an attempt to block Sonic's blow.

Sonic came crashing into his arms like a speeding bullet, bouncing off while the Zeti quickly drew his hands back in pain.

And that's all he needed he came back down on him, summoning the power of the boost within his right leg, he sent a roundhouse directly into Zavok's face, that knocked him straight off the ship and be knocked out cold on the forest floor.

Sonic had won.

Without them, the mechanical dragons crashed down on the ground, skidding to a halt on the ground.

Big and Celeste happened be just where the dragons landed and Celeste let out a yelp at the sight, jumping into Big's arms.

Sonic hopped off the dragon he was on and dusted off his hands. "And that settles that!"

Celeste's jaw dropped, looking dumbfoundedly at the hedgehog before her while Big just looked confused as he always did.

Sonic grinned at the sight of Celeste. "Oh, there you are, partner! Looks like you had some fun without me!"

Celeste's look of surprise turned to a small smile. "Yeah, you could say that."

She paused for a moment and laughed. "And I'm not a platypus."

Sonic joined in on the laughter to which Big looked in confusion. The guy didn't watch a lot of TV.

It was then that Sonic acknowledged him. "And looks like you ran into one of my pals on the way. How 'ya doin' Big?"

"Oh, I'm fine, Sonic." The cat smiled. "Celeste helped me find Froggy and I'm so happy I'm back with my buddy!"

Celeste nodded. "Yep, we had quite the adventure."

Sonic shook his head and chuckled. "I'm sure you guys did. That was really nice of Celeste to help you like that."

"It was, she's so nice! We have such nice friends, Sonic!"

"You got that right."

"Me and Froggy wanna help our friends, so we wanna join the resistance!"

"Yeah, sure thing. The more the merrier."

At that, Sonic's com chimed in. "Good news everyone, Zavok has been taken down and the fires have been put out. We did it, the Mystic Jungle is saved! Everyone return to base."

Everyone cheered and did just that.

 **~Trials of War~**

Zavok groaned as he rose from the hole that Sonic had thrown him into. He clutched his head in pain, knowing that he was going to be feeling the imprint of Sonic's shoe in his face for a while

"Ugh… my head."

At that, the sound of distortion rang out and with it, the Eggman, Cubot, Orbot and the other generals appeared.

"You've disappointed me yet again, Zavok." Eggman shook his head. "I gave you one simple task to redeem yourself and you can't even do that right."

"Doctor, please!" Zavok shouted. "Sonic had arrived and-"

"No. I don't want to hear the same excuse from you again. On the Death Egg it was Sonic and here it was Sonic. The troublesome hedgehog has been in a thorn in my side for years and I know full and well what he's like."

"Then you must understand that it was because of him that the mission failed!"

Eggman put his hand to his chin in thought, but shook his head. "No, that was you."

"Doctor, please!"

"Do you know why it was your fault?" Eggman asked him.

Zavok gulped. He knew whatever answer he gave would be the wrong one. "No…?"

"It was because you're the one that was reckless and caused all of this property damage! I mean, look at this place! I asked you to burn the forest, not the casinos!"

Zavok looked around and it was true. During the fight with Sonic he had lead the dragon badniks in the casinos and that had caused a mess of rubble to be scattered around the jungle. But he tried to deny this.

"But that was Son-"

"No, it wasn't!" Eggman snapped. "I saw the footage live and know exactly what I saw, I saw you not paying attention where you were going and destroying priceless Eggman Empire Property because of that."

Zavok bit his upper lip, choosing to say nothing.

"That is why I have come to a decision."

"Yes…?"

"Between what I've seen today and those days ago at the Death Egg, you've shown me that you are an insubordinate, arrogant fool and have outlived your usefulness in my empire."

"Wha-what?"

"I hereby revoke your status as a General of the Eggman Empire and am officially removing you from my ranks. You are done and I want nothing to do you!"

"But Emperor, I have done so much for you! I have been with you since your reign began, I have brought about destruction on the world, I have taken countless prisoners and even _lives_ that have stood before you!"

"And I don't care. You've always wanted to leave and now you've finally been granted your wish. But just know, your home is no longer under my protection and should I see fit, I will attack it without second thought. And if you or any of your kind choose to stand in my way then I won't hesitate to make the Zeti extinct."

Teeth grinding, fists clenched, muscles tensing, the Zeti was left seething in blinding rage at what the doctor had said. He had enlisted on this army for the sole reason of protecting his home and family, but now… Eggman had broken that off. And he was _**Infuriated.**_

With that, the Zeti let out his deathly monster roar with far more volume and emotion than he ever had before and began charging at the doctor.

He closed the gap, leaping up into the air with his fist extended down towards the Eggmobile.

But Eggman, Eggman showed no fear. He snapped his fingers.

And with the sound of distortion and a flash of red light, Zavok was gone.

Eggman then turned to both Shadow and Chaos. "Let that be a lesson to you. If either of you, _**ever,**_ _ **ever**_ cross my paths, then you will be met with the same fate."

With that, he turned and hovered away, to which the two chaos beings looked at each other without saying a word.

Chaos was confused, like an animal and was fighting for the empire simply because it aligned with his own current goals.

But Shadow… he had never, _ever_ been afraid of Doctor Eggman before. But that, that reasonably shook the Ultimate Life Form. But he had his reasons for fighting on their side and as much as he wanted to leave, he still had a job to do.

 **~Trials of War~**

Zavok appeared in Desert Ruins Zone, in the same area that Sonic had punted away the Cacophonic Conch.

The Zeti, still in the same form he was when he was teleported away, drove his fist into the ground. He created a crater in the ruined dirt so large, it was as if a small bomb had been dropped there. And in a way, one was off with the rage filled tank of creature that had appeared back in his home.

Zavok was still roaring though, letting out a roar so loud, so terrifying that it could be heard throughout The Lost Hex and the land that surrounded it.

It was only after he had finally stopped that someone spoke up.

"Throwing a tantrum like a child?" An older voice said. "Is that truly the way of the one that I chose to lead our people."

Zavok's eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets at that. He turned around and there he saw his Master Zik who was sitting on one of the rocks begin walking towards him.

"Master!" Immediately, he got on one knee and kneeled before him. "Please forgive me for showing such intolerable behavior in your presence."

But the older Zeti simply shook his head. "There will be none of that, Zavok. You are leader of our species and I am nothing but an old man that has long since passed the torch."

Zavok rose but even so he still didn't accept this. "Even so, you will always be my master and deserve nothing but the utmost respect."

At that the Zeti simply hummed at that, not saying anything.

At that, he began to walk over to the rock he was seated on and ushered for Zavok to join him.

He eagerly nodded and sat down next to his master.

"What has happened, Zavok?" Master Zik asked.

Zavok simply shook his head. "I ruined everything…"

And with that, he told him everything that had happened over the past few months since the fall of the Zeti and the Lost Hex. He told him how he had become general of Eggman's army and the people he terrorized, how Infinite and his mysterious Ruby were ever stronger than they had originally anticipated, how they had taken down Sonic, how he had escaped and how he had finally been kicked out of the army.

Master Zik listened to all of this intently, letting his former student go on and on about all of this. Despite the gravity of the situation and all the terrible things that had happened that went against his people, he couldn't help but recount times when he and Zavok had both been much younger where the leader of the Deadly Six would talk animatedly about how his lessons were going and how sure he was that he would be his successor. Back then, he was a child, still young and inexperienced and actually happier. So much smaller than the towering mountain of a Zeti that the master had come to be proud of today. Despite the horrors that the former master was hearing from his former pupil, he couldn't help but have the smallest hint of a smile on his face as he relished in the memory of a much younger Zavok and a much younger Zik.

The bright day had soon turned to sunset by the time he had finally finished recounting the tale of his time on the Eggman Empire.

"That is quite the story." Master Zik admitted as he stroked his beard.

"It is all my fault, Master." Zavok closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Had I heeded your words, we would not have been put in danger."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Zavok." Master Zik shook his head. "I have spent a long time thinking about what had happened a year ago and in that time, I realized that there truly wasn't any other way. Our people may believe in strength above all, but your willingness to submit in the end saved not only my life, but saved the last of our race from going extinct. If this Infinite fellow is as strong as you say, then there really was no fight to be had."

"Yes, but-"

"I have already forgiven you, Zavok."

"Thank you, Master." Zavok bowed to him, holding a hand to his chest.

They stayed silent like that for a few moments.

Zavok finally spoke up. "What do we do now, Master?"

At that, his mind flashed and he saw the much shorter, younger version of Zavok, looking to him with wide but determined eyes.

But he shook his head and smiled. "I should be asking you that, you are leader of our people, Zavok. You may have been conquered by Eggman but that doesn't mean you are no longer the Leader of the Deadly Six. You take command, and I humbly follow."

Zavok sighed. He had long since settled into his position as leader, but ever since the whole debacle of the fall of his people, he didn't know what to do. Zavok… Zavok wasn't used to making his own decisions after following Eggman for so long.

But the Master, he looked to him with brow furrowed and expecting eyes.

He had to regain his role and he had to please him.

He thought for a moment, to which his master waited patiently.

Finally, he spoke. "We need to strengthen our defenses. Eggman may decide to attack us at any moment and we need to be prepared. We need to make sure that The Lost Hex will not fall again and we need to make sure that The Deadly Six truly lives up to his name. We will not be made fools of again, not by the resistance, not by the Empire, not by anyone ever again."

"Yes!"

"And it all starts with this!" Zavok confirmed as he pulled out the red Chaos Emerald which firmly glowed in his hand.

"Gather the other four." Zik smiled. "It's time we get all get back to training."

 **[1] Yes, that Brenda from Sonic Unleashed.  
{2] "This is Our World Part 3- Sonic Forces Soundtrack" I personally always considered this the theme of the Eggman Empire since it has such a commanding vibe to it and all and it only plays when you get into the Metropolis and Eggman Empire Fortress levels meaning you're diving into enemy territory so… yeah.  
[3] Okay, I was watching RWBY the other night, saw Nora do this to Hazel and thought this was super cool.  
[4] Music listeners, break out those guitars, it's time for Luminous Forest!  
[5] Music listeners, Aqua Road.  
[6] Vs. Zavok Forces OST.**

 **And we're done! It's done, we finally did the Mystic Jungle chapter, woo! We covered a lot of ground here and I for one am just so relieved that it's done. But before we finally send off, let's talk about the major parts of this chapter.  
First, let's talk about Big. And might I say KelWelPower, are you psychic for asking about Big right before the chapter that revealed him. I was so shocked by that. But no, Big was always planned for this moment here in the Mystic Jungle and originally, he was just gonna be comedic relief for this section, but then I thought… what if he actually helped Celeste with her issue with everything in his simplistic, Big the Cat way. And so… that's what I did. I'm hoping it came off well.  
As for Zavok? Well, Zavok was something I also had planned from the beginning. But I'm sure you guys might be wondering about some of the decisions I made for him and the tone shift that I took for the character here. Well, here's the deal. While most people have written off The Lost Hex as simply bad characters, I have not. Well, not entirely. I believe that Zavok, Zazz and Zik are all characters with potential. Zazz, makes for a good chaotic wildcard if you use him properly, it was actually this reason among other things that I believed Zazz would be in Forces alongside Zavok at one point but was wrong. But no, Zavok is strong and commanding and yeah he really just showed to be evil, but I believe you can use him well if given the right writer. But even then, Zavok still has his moment where he wasn't just evil dude and actually had a moment of actual care, and that was of course towards his Master Zik. That's why you see a lot of this in this chapter, I wanted to flesh out their relationship a bit and did that. I figured if anybody was gonna make Zavok side with Eggman, it was gonna be Zik and so… here we are. But as for Zik, as the former leader of the Deadly Six, he is the key to Zeti lore as the former leader of the Deadly Six which is why I think he's worth exploring. The rest are trash, especially Zomom. But I love Zor because I'm trash too. But no, that's where a lot of this chapter came from. But let's talk a bit about Zavok's position on the Eggman Empire. Zavok was always meant to cause discourse in the Eggman Empire and I think he did a fantastic job at it, from being the one to release Sonic to destroying a good chunk of Casino Forest, Zavok played his part and played his part well and it was only going to be a matter of time before he finally got himself kicked off and he did. So sad, but definitely not the last we've seen of The Deadly Six because I have some fun planned for them later.  
But that'll do for this chapter. Thanks again for making this my most reviewed story and I can't wait to see you all next time in Station Square with the Classic Trio.  
R&R**


	14. Chapter 13: Believe in Yourself

**First thing's first, please read the final Author's Note for an announcement. It's something important that I need to share with you all.**

 **Second, this story officially turned a year old back on the 19** **th** **of December. Can't believe we've made it this far and I'm so happy to have gotten here. And in addition, this story just got 100 reviews! That's the first time a story of mine has ever hit this many reviews and honestly, I can't thank you guys enough. You're really the best readers a guy could ask for.**

 **And we're back with another chapter of Trials of War and this time, we're going to be taking things to Station Square with our Classic Trio. This is gonna be fun. But first review replies:**

 **tekina fiction:  
One of the things I wanted to make absolutely sure of with this story is that every villain has a reason to be here. And everyone has their thing.  
The dysfunctionality of the Eggman Empire is another thing I really wanted to drive home and I'm glad that I was successful with that.  
We talked on Discord, but the way I see it, Big is an easy going guy and warms up to people quick. Funny thing is, he was originally gonna be comic relief when I first planned out this chapter back in 2017 but then I realized hmmmmmmm maybe I can do something with this. Celeste and Big were a part of the chapter that I was incredibly happy with.  
Thanks so much! Hope you like this chapter as much as the last!**

 **KelWelPower:  
Yep, I was so shocked when you asked the question about Big when you did haha. But here we are.  
Thanks so much and I love that you're replaying Forces with Celeste, that's awesome!**

 **Infinite's Ruby:  
Glad you loved Big here too!  
Ohohoho, I am so excited for the Deadly Six. They're characters that I think haven't been used to their fullest potential and I want to make sure that they get justice.  
Thanks, man. I really appreciate that. Thank you and everybody else for all the support, you're some of the best readers a guy could ask for.**

 **SpiderDom321:  
Smoky Bear was a fun addition that I did for kicks and giggles, I'm glad you enjoyed that. And we definitely need Mario and Zelda!  
Brenda was a nice addition, I'll say that she'll be showing up a little more in this story. I love Unleashed and you'll see some of its characters either get in some way or another.  
Bless that pun.  
Think I might keep musical cues the same, but if I think of a way around, I'll be sure to change it.  
Don't worry about it, man. Thanks for the support.**

 **TheGameNguyener:  
Thank you.  
I think you'll like what I do with Tails here. Heck, I think as a Tails fan you'll ike this chapter.  
Thank you. Chapters just end up as long as they end up for the most part.**

 **Guest 2:  
So, this is the guest that reviewed every chapter. I'm assuming you're the same person so I'll be replying to all those reviews.  
Classic Sonic and Tails are one of the most important parts in this story and I can't wait for you all to see how their arc ends. But we've got a long way to go before that.  
Sonamy likely won't be in this fic. This ship isn't really gonna have many if at a, any sips outside of Rouge's light flirting with Knuckles. However, there will definitely be moments between Sonic and Amy and other characters that will expand upon their friendships. I will say, this review actually made me reevaluate and add an Amy scene to a later chapter that I think you guys will like.  
I'm glad you liked Shadow and Rouge there. That scene is still one of my favorites in this story.  
As for Zavok, allow me to talk a little bit about my portrayal of him since you seem to have a few issues with it. For starters, in chapter 6, he's not really being an idiot or at least, that's not the sole purpose of him freeing Sonic from a narrative perspective. I mean, yeah. It is his fault that Sonic is free. However, the idea behind this as introduced in the first chapter is to show that things aren't quite well in the Eggman Empire and that these guys aren't totally loyal to Eggman having their own agendas and all. Eggman refused to get rid of Sonic and Zavok disagreed with that so he went to take care of the problem himself to prove that which ultimately lead to Sonic's escape. And as for the last chapter, I am well aware of Zavok's character. However, there's something that a lot of people don't notice about him which I decided to exploit here. When in the presence of Master Zik, his entire demeanor changes from the "evil, dangerous, ruthless, pitiless, and remorseless monster" as you put it. He becomes a more caring and compassionate character implying more of a relationship within these characters that I really wanted to explore a bit which I did. Zavok might not care for much, but as little as Lost World gave us it shows that he cares a great deal for Zik. That's where I'm coming from with that. Zavok is a character that I believe has a lot of potential to be a better character and in this story, I've done my best to explore that potential with things like this.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw, Alexadria Prime, Guest 1, LunaRWBY,  
Thank you!**

 **Trials of War: A Sonic Forces Rewrite  
Chapter 13-  
Believe in Yourself **

**Four Years Ago:**

"Oh no, it's Doctor Robotnik!" Someone cried, pointing up at the Eggmobile floating dangerously in the sky. **[1]**

The people of Station Square were in a state of panic at the sight of the mad doctor. People cowered in fear, others tried to hide their children, everyone was just in awe at the sight of the doctor.

But he cared for none of them at this point. But instead slammed his fist against the side of the Eggmobile, fuming at what had just happened. "So… you defeated the missile, you little pest?"

Tails glared down Eggman, his entire being shaky as he continued to look defiantly at the doctor.

"I'll make you pay for this!"

Tails continued to look on with steely determination as Eggman flew into the sky, and disappeared from sight.

There was a beat of silence and for a moment, it really did look like things were okay. Tails had won and the city was safe.

And then, it happened.

A large machine fell from above, causing all the people to go into panic again.

Gravel cracked from the sheer force of impact.

Tails gasped at the sight of a massive machine that stood on the ground before them. Eggman let out his menacing cackle from atop the center which was a semispherical stand which his Eggpod stood atop. Sprouting from the stand were four large mechanical legs that towered high above the heads of everyone. Two large cannons were mounted dangerously at Eggman's sides, primed and ready to unleash destruction.

"You fool!" Eggman sneered. "Away, before I make mincemeat out of you."

Fists clenched, the nine year old returned the mad man's glare. "I'm not scared… I'm not scared! I can do this!"

And like that, Tails began his fight against him.

"GET A LOAD OF THIS!"

Eggman began to fire bombs into the air, pelting the young foxkit with them as he quickly dodged every which way and that from the deadly onslaught.

While small, the sound and sight of the explosions wasn't doing wonders for him. He so desperately wanted to shield his eyes and ears but knew he had a job to do as he continued dodging the shots.

What would Sonic do here? He wondered.

That's when he saw where Eggman was firing and took note that he wasn't really aiming for him. No, the doctor had been firing wildly and without any disdain for where the bombs landed in hopes of trying to be random enough to fool the fox into running straight into the line of fire. But Tails knew that this strategy put the hiding civilians in danger and he couldn't allow that to happen.

Sonic would try and draw attention to himself so that no one would get hurt. And the only way to do that… wisecracks.

Tails flew up into the air and wildly waved his hands at the doctor. "Hey, Eggman! You call those shots?! I thought you were a scientist, don't you know that in our field, we're supposed to be pre-pre-preceest."

"That's precise, you insufferable buffoon!"

"Yeah, well I'm nine! What's your excuse for your bad aim, Eggman?"

The doctor growled. "I'll show you an aim, you pint sized nincompoop."

With that, Eggman pressed some buttons on his console and soon, the bombs stopped and in their place, flames began to surge out of the cannons to which the fox yelped and quickly dove out of the way of the fire.

Eggman laughed as he watched the poor boy run around the street trying to dodge the downpour of flame.

Tails eyes quickly searched the area, looking for some sort of freedom, but found nothing along the street that could both protect him and keep the people out of harm's way.

Nowhere except… it was a risk, but he didn't have another choice.

Quickly, he made his way underneath the massive machine where nothing could hurt him unless Eggman wanted to risk getting himself hurt in the process.

"If you think hiding running and hiding is going to save you then you've got another thing coming, boy."

The Egg Walker then began stamping its feet along the ground in an attempt to get the fox to out from where he was hiding, but he wouldn't budge.

Frustrated, Robotnik pressed another button on his console and with that, the Egg Walker began to stomp on the ground again, this time one of the feet began to cause miniature shockwaves along the ground forcing the fox to get airborne again. But of course, not without making note of the pulsating blue orb on the side of its feet that glowed an electric blue whenever a shockwave rang out.

It was obviously storing power that would no doubt short circuit if he struck it while active; or as Sonic would've said, if it glows that's probably the spot to hit.

And he did just that, he swooped down and swung his namesakes at the orb. Immediately, the machine went down to where he quickly rushed outside and swung again at the Eggpod causing it to malfunction for a moment before rising again.

The doctor growled and resorted to going back to the cannons firing randomly again to which people hiding inside buildings and around the streets covered their heads.

Tails saw this and couldn't help but gulp at the sight, quickly taking to the skies again.

The gears within his mind began to mash together at an erratic rate, quickly trying to find the best quip that would get his attention.

"H-hey Eggman!"

The Doctor turned his attention to him, seething at the fox.

"Yo-you're sure you don't need another pair of glasses, cuz that aim is still bad!"

Robotnik glared at him and the machine charged towards him, to which he swooped out of the way again. Every couple of steps, he would notice the feet on the machine would light up and cause another tremor.

He needed to wait for the perfect moment as he weaved in between the erratic shifting of robotic limbs.

Quickly he found his mark and dove for the shining light below, hitting the leg before jumping for the Eggmobile.

Robotnik growled once again and went back to the flames, attempting to scorch him again.

But using the same strategy as before, he was able to make his way under the machine and when the stomping started again, he was able to hit the switch and hit the Eggmobile again.

The broiling fury within the doctor rose as The Eggwalker began to hit critical levels. Somehow the annoying sidekick was destroying his glorious machines and foiling his plans to destroy the city. At least Sonic was a young teen, but no… this… this child who hadn't even existed for a decade was putting an end to his schemes. And that was unacceptable.

"I'm not giving up yet! Now you'll witness my true power!" The doctor declared.

With that, he went to slamming various buttons on his machine and soon, the orbs on the joints of the machine turned to a fiery red and in response, with each stomp, large spires of fire erupted from wherever he stepped. And again he began to wildly fire all around, causing mass destruction of all sorts.

Tails was terrified at the sight, but he did not waver. Sonic wouldn't crumble at the sight and neither would he, he stood proud and tall, fists clenched and brow furrowed. He knew what he had to do and he would do it without fail.

And he did, the young boy dodged plumes of flame before he finally hit the switch and homed in on the Eggmobile once more, causing the machine to fall apart and leave only the singular pod in its place.

"You may have won this time, Tails. But next time, you won't be so lucky!" Eggman declared before his busted Eggmobile flew up into the air and out of sight.

For a moment, Tails simply huffed and puffed, waiting for another attack to come.

But it didn't.

Instead he was met with cheers from the people coming out of their hiding spots.

Tails couldn't believe it. He-he'd done it. All by himself. He defeated Eggman!

"H-hey, I- I did it!"

To which the applause got even louder and louder.

"I did it all by myself!"

On that day, Tails had proved his worth, had made it on his own and most importantly… for the first time he believed in himself.

 **~Trials of War~**

"Is it just me or is it that whenever I'm here, this place is a dump?" Sonic mused. "Somebody seriously wrecked this place."

Tails let out a sigh and Omega simply stared at it all. And what a sight it was to behold.

Station Square was a shadow of its former self. The place was even worse than Sunset Heights with its barren streets and seemingly empty buildings. The buildings themselves were all worse for wear with holes being torn into walls, windows long since broken and graffiti of all kinds sprayed in random places, many of them bearing resistance stars and Eggman Empire logos. It was as if the mood of the entire city had changed the very weather of the town, as the grey clouds set an overcast on the entire city. Like the eyes of the citizens, the clouds looked as if they were ready to let out their contents at any moment.

"Seriously, and I thought Twilight Town was a ghost town, but this…" Sonic gestured around at everything. "This is somethin' else."

"That's Sunset Heights, Sonic." Tails corrected him.

"Whatever."

"Still, this- this is bad." Tails frowned. "This place isn't always like this. Station Square was always a big and bustling city, with people just living their lives. It's a happy place and I've had some good memories here. Sure, things were bad when Chaos attacked, but they got better a while after that."

"Then I'm guessing Eggman tore it up again, right?"

Tails sighed. "Yeah, it looks like the resistance couldn't save this city."

"I really wish that we could've been there. Maybe, just maybe we could've saved it, y'know?"

Tails shook his head. "Maybe, but we can't change the past."

Sonic narrowed his eyes at the hopeless foxkit. "Yeah, but we can change the future. And I don't know about you, but I'm gonna make sure that this place has a better tomorrow."

Tails' frown deepened at that and he was about to respond only for Omega to speak up. **"Incoming hostiles!"**

Both hedgehog and fox jumped at the sound, having not heard the robot's voice in a while. They both turned to stare at him as his arms changed to their machine gun setting and fired round out at the approaching Badniks.

Sonic and Tails' eyes followed the bullets to see them break a few Buzzbomber's into pieces.

The two looked at each other and nodded at that, getting into position as more robots came down the streets. They counted five Eggpongs two roaders and three Buzzbombers.

Tails flew up into the air, letting his hands down for the younger hog to quickly latch onto. Together, they flew up into the sky weaving in between shots from different Badniks while Omega disposed of an Eggpong and a Roader.

Tails then swung Sonic around, so fast that the two of them were a blur of blue and yellow in the pale grey skies before he let go and Sonic came zooming out in his ball form.

He smashed through not only one, but two of the Buzz Bombers before landing on the ground and finishing off the last roader.

The hedgehog couldn't help but smirk at that as he revved up into a spindash and took off down the road, weaving between shots from one of the remaining Eggpongs.

Meanwhile, Tails let out a yell as he twirled into the air and swung his namesakes into one of the remaining BuzzBombers and stomped onto the Eggpong underneath

Omega then fired again, this time from both arms, ripping two of the pawns to shreds.

Sonic then mowed down the last of the pongs with a spindash.

And with that, they were all cleared and the trio continued down the barren streets. For a moment, the three were in silence with Tails falling into his own sadness as he looked around at the world around him.

He had so many times here in Station Square and not just during the whole ordeal with Chaos. Station Square had been a common place for Tails to hang around with it being one of the closest town to his workshop where he would often get groceries and other supplies and visit Amy every now and again. While he did mostly hang around the Mystic Ruins, Station Square was like another home to Tails and to see it in this kind of ruin again, really put the fox in a bad mood.

Despite everything, he walked; with Sonic and Omega by his side. They heard nothing but the sounds of their feet against the cracked pavement, tiny taps paling in comparison to the heavy stomps that the massive robot made behind them.

Of course, the younger Sonic took note of his brother as he walked by. His shoulders were slumped, his eyes sullen and sunken at everything around him, his feet dragging along the ground much like his namesakes behind him. Sonic couldn't help but frown at the sight and all that talk about how they couldn't change things was well… it didn't make Sonic happy at all.

So, Sonic attempted to cheer Tails up a bit.

"Y'know, when we were runnin' around in Sunset I noticed that Chao in Space came back with some new movies."

Tails looked at him. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Tell me about them. Are they as good as the originals or are they like those awful prequels?"

Tails let out a little laugh. "Worse. After the Oswald Rabbit corporation bought the franchise a few years ago, they went and they did a lot of things wrong."

"Wait, what?!" Sonic recoiled. "Those guys own Chao in Space now? What kind of dark future is this?"

Tails let out a light chuckle at that. "The funny thing is, I hated the two movies that are out, but you really liked them. It's funny because you thought they were gonna be bad but liked them when I was the opposite."

"Well, I can't imagine liking Oswald Chao in Space."

"Neither can I, but somehow you like them."

Sonic scrunched up his face in disgust at that, to which the fox couldn't help but laugh.

But then Tails gasped. "Look out!"

Without another word, Sonic dove to the side and just in time too as a laser blast from a BuzzBomber shot down at him.

In his dive, he decided to drop into a spindash, swerving into the direction of ten Eggpongs and five Buzzbombers.

He went down the middle of the pongs, knocking out three of them in a single blow.

Omega got to work as well, this time switching to his set of flamethrowers to which he immediately raised his arms up into the air and torched four of the Egg Pongs before them.

Tails furrowed his brow in determination at the battle before him, running towards a few of the Eggpongs. Spinning on the tips of his toes, he's able to slice through the remaining three Eggpongs before taking off in the air.

Omega once again, changed the attachments on his arm, changing his arm so that the little bits of yellow plated steel jutted out to reveal little launchers on each side. He fired off quick, short shorts at two of the Buzzbombers.

Sonic then homed onto two of the remaining ones and Tails did the same on the last.

The trio were left surrounded by a pile of busted robot parts, each of them still with their fists up, spines sharpened and weapons at the ready.

But no other threats came to them and soon, they dropped they dropped their guard.

"Freeze!" A voice shouted off in the distance.

All three of them stiffened at the voice but were prepared to fight. The two turned towards the source of the voice, prepared to take down the intruder only to come face to face with someone that neither of them were too familiar with. He was a human man, wearing a suit that was tattered at the ends along with a bullet proof vest that contrasted with his stark white hair, slightly tanned skin and dulled eyes, one green and one brown. Despite his old age though, the man stood before them, rigid and ready with his black pistol pointed straight at the three of them, ready to put an end to their lives.

But when the man saw who was there, both his firearm and his steely glare instantly fell into one of absolute shock.

"O-Omega? Is that really you?"

The robot blinked in response. **"I am E-123 Omega! You are unknown. Designation required."**

The man blinked in surprise. "Unknown? Come now, Omega? You must recognize me."

" **Negative. Designation required."**

"Woah, who is this guy and how does he know the bucket of bolts?"

At that, the man immediately turned his attention towards the other two. "Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles P'rower. I don't believe this. The rumors are true!"

At that, Tails finally spoke up. "C-C-Commander Tower? I don't understand. You disappeared when GUN… well… you know."

"I could say the same about you two. But when rumors spread that Sonic made his return, we didn't entirely believe it. But now you both stand before me in the flesh. Amazing."

"Okay, freeze. Who is this guy?" Sonic asked.

Tails smiled at him. "Sonic, you're looking at Commander Abraham Tower: The highest ranking and most outfitted officer in all of GUN."

At that, the Commander smiled and stood proud and tall.

But Sonic narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What's GUN?"

 **~Trials of War~**

The trio turned quartet was now heading down a back alley in Station Square, Commander Tower leading the way.

"So lemme get this straight? GUN is like some sort of organization that protects the world from all kinds of threats but mostly the United Federation."

"That's right." Tails nodded.

"Wow! They must be incredibly helpful in all of my adventures then, right?!"

At that, there was a stiff silence in the air, to which one could hear a pin drop if they listened closely. Tails awkwardly chuckled while the commander simply coughed unsure what to say to the child.

"Well, GUN does their best. And they were definitely very helpful with the Black Arms invasion three years ago." Tails confirmed.

"Oh…" Sonic frowned.

"Perhaps if you are a little more willing when you go back in time, you could receive our help more." Commander Tower added. "We would not mind having you among our ranks, learn from your older self and join us when we give the offer."

Sonic rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "I'll think about that."

Commander Tower then addressed them. "I would hope so. Now Miles, walk me through all of this again, the Sonic before us is the one from the past that Shadow and Rouge had informed of during the scenario on his sixteenth birthday and that Omega is currently in a level of disrepair."

Tails nodded. "Yeah, I don't know what happened, but this Sonic appeared to me when I was trying to fix Omega back in Sunset Heights. Helped us fight Chaos."

"Well, among all of the strange things to happen during Eggman's reign, this definitely takes the cake. A time travelling Sonic the Hedgehog, here to help save the world?"

Tails shrugged. "Well, we've dealt with stranger before."

" _You_ have dealt with stranger." He retorted.

Tails nervously chuckled again at that.

Finally though, they reached the end of the alleyway where they reached a dead end of sorts.

Tails and Sonic looked around confusedly at this.

"Nice going, captain. You lead us straight to a dead end."

"That's Commander!" He snapped back. "And as usual, you are mistaken."

With that, the Captain tapped on a few seemingly random bricks before they started to let out a strange glow. Suddenly, a collection of bricks moved revealing a dark pathway.

Sonic and Tails gasped. "Woah, what?!"

"I didn't know we had anything like this in Station Square?"

The Commander smiled. "There's a lot you don't know, Miles."

And together, the four of them stepped into the darkness of the tunnel.

Minutes passed as they continued to walk through before they emerged and were shocked at the sight before them.

They were in some sort of box spanning across the length of a football lined with what appeared to be some sort of heavy metal, Tails assumed that it had to be some sort of steel or an alloy of the sort. But what was within the box was a sort of encampment that they walked through complete with all kinds of tents in neat rows throughout the complex where all kinds of people, mostly humans walked around, chatted amongst themselves along with all sorts of supplies including suitcases and the like around them neatly in piles near the tents. But that wasn't all, as they continued walking, they spotted a sort of mess hall of sorts where chefs smiled at people who came up to get their food and sit at the tables nearby, shacks filled with blankets and other necessities, a sort of closed off shower area and everything one could need for survival.

As they walked through, more and more people began to take notice of the group and sullen faces turned to smiles at the sight of them. Excited whispers ran throughout the group of Sonic the Hedgehog, rumors being true, him being alive and _The Hero of Station Square._

Sonic couldn't help but smile and wave at some of them, giving them reassuring smiles and things like that. He didn't really know what else to do, but it seemed like the people here had been through a lot and since apparently he was a hero in the future or whatever, he figured it would be important to try and comfort them.

Tails on the other hand, saw this and took to attempt to hide himself behind Omega. Trying desperately to avoid the stares and the chatter of him and his brother. To him, the excitement only reminded him of better days and the failure all those months ago.

As they walked, Commander Tower gave them the rundown on where they were. "Welcome to Station Square Underground. It is one of many hidden bases around the world that GUN has made in order to attempt to keep up surveillance and in the cases of our bases in the United Federation, to keep our citizens safe."

"Wait, so there are more of these places all over the world?" Tails asked.

The Commander nodded.

Sonic put a hand to his chin in thought. "Wait, but all over the world? I thought you GUN guys only had control over the UF."

"We do what we must to keep the people safe."

"That's pretty lame." Sonic responded. "I'm starting to see why big me doesn't like you stiffs very much."

The commander frowned at this but continued on. "When The Eggman Empire attacked the city, we opened up the place in order to save the people and we have dubbed the Station Sanctuary since. Every single day, we make efforts to go outside not only in an attempt to find more survivors but to gather more supplies as well."

Tails frowned. "But I thought GUN was destroyed?"

"It was. But… a lot of us still survived. And we've been scattered. In Station Square, we have limited communication with the outside world. I do not know what might have become of the others if they stuck together or have fallen. But here in Station Square, we have remained strong and have gained a lot of honorary members in the people here that have wanted to help."

Finally, they reached their destination and were surprised to find a sort of set up where not only was where a table was set up in the middle along with computers of all sorts of different shapes and sizes along the walls. People in both in normal clothes and decked out in full uniforms milled about that area, with GUN armbands strapped onto them.

But at the center table, was a tall man with dark brown hair and eyes, dressed in a nice blue suit but was also tattered and wrinkled at the ends much like Commander Tower's. But to Tails, seeing the man before them was a blast from the past that brought in fresh memories of not only their adventure with Chaos but of the first time Shadow had appeared into their lives as well. Flashes of celebrity parties that he had insisted Sonic and Tails attend after they had saved the world from the crisis of the week, commanding an entire nation, and to Tails most importantly his first sign of independence years and years ago when he accepted the award for saving Station Square.

"President Marcus?!" Tails gasped. **[2]**

The man looked up from the table and instantly smiled at the sight of the two. "Sonic and Tails!"

"I- I thought you were dead!" Tails gasped. "No one's heard of you since the beginning of the war!"

He chuckled. "I've gotten that quite a lot over the past few months. But no, I'm fine. Shortly after the fall of Sunset Heights, I was on my way to Station Square to address the people and that's when Eggman attacked the city. If it weren't for the brave men and women who helped me that day, I probably would not be standing here today."

"We're so glad you're safe, Mr. President. We were worried."

He smiled. "It's going to take more than Eggman to take me down. And it looks like the same can be said for the two of you. I never doubted you both for a second."

Sonic crossed his arms and smirked. "Thanks, Mr. Prez."

"You're welcome." He smiled only to take a look at the hedgehog. "Uh… Sonic, have you gotten shorter?"

Sonic chuckled. "Well, hehe funny story about that…"

And so they told him.

"Well… that's wow. Time travel. Abraham, do we have anything on that?" He asked him.

"Nothing except for Team Dark's report on Sonic's birthday situation a few years ago."

"Eh, not the first time I've travelled through time but hopefully the last. I like living things in my time thanks."

"Well, regardless. Thank Gaia that you're here." He smiled. "Eat, sleep, take a shower, do what you need. The base is yours to use before you continue down to the Mystic Ruins. Unfortunately the Subway hasn't been operational for some time, you'd have to go on foot if you want to make it down there."

"Eh, no problem. We've been hoffin' it for days all the way from Sunset Heights. We'll be able to make it a little more."

"Very well."

 **~Trials of War~**

"I don't suppose you got any chilidogs, do ya' miss?" Sonic slyly asked as he leant over the counter and eyed what was literally a textbook example of an ugly lunch lady with her overall large build, body hair all over that made the young hog question if she really was human or some sort of ape Mobian, a hairnet and the like.

She grumbled at him before slapping a pile of unidentifiable meat onto his waiting bun, before gesturing for him to move along with her ladle.

Sonic gave her a wide grin as he moved along to get more food.

Tails came by with his own tray and chuckled. "Hehe, I'm sorry about him he's… very young."

The woman groaned in response as she slapped food onto Tails' tray.

And with that, the two made their way to their table where Omega was waiting on standby mode.

The two sat down and quickly dug into their food that surprisingly wasn't that bad. As it had turned out it was just average ground beef that didn't really have much special to it. How exactly they were able to find beef like this in these times, they weren't sure. But they weren't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Sonic and Tails hadn't really eaten anything this good in a long time, having mostly taken to stale granola bars and trail mix the course of their journey. But for Tails, it had been six months since he had a decent meal, so to say that his inner canine came out when he got into his sloppy joe would've been an understatement.

It was about halfway into their meal that a group of human teenagers approached their table.

One was a young boy with light tan skin, messy brown hair and eyes of the same color. He wore a plain white shirt underneath a green unzipped jacket and jeans.

The next was a girl looking to be a little older than him, with short black hair, pale grey eyes and wearing a simple red hoodie.

Rounding out the group was a tall blonde haired guy who looked to be the oldest of the group. He had on a black hoodie with a little bunny symbol on it. **[3]**

"Excuse me?" The girl asked. "Can we sit here?"

Tails was ready to decline, but with a face full of sloppy joe, he didn't get fast enough for Sonic. "Yeah. No problem, dudes."

The three kids smiled and took a seat at the table.

Tails simply tried to put all of his attention into his sloppy joe.

Sonic, being the ever talkative one decided to get the ball rolling. "So what are all your names?"

"Oh, well my name is Ruby. The tall guy's Jaune and the other's Oscar."

"Hello." Jaune let out a light smile with a wave.

Oscar simply gave them a nervous glance and a nod.

"Nice. I'm Sonic and this is Tails." Sonic waved at them.

Ruby laughed. "Well of course we know who you guys are, you're like superheroes."

Sonic chuckled. "Eh, y'never know. You guys haven't had TV in months so maybe there's a newborn that hasn't heard of me."

"Do any of us look that young?" The blonde, Jaune, chuckled.

"Well, maybe not you, stretch." Sonic snarked. "But Ruby and Oscar here don't look a day over 10."

"Excuse me, I'm 16!" Ruby huffed warranting laughter from both Sonic and Jaune while Oscar lightly chuckled as well. "Oh, laugh it up Oscar, but you're only fourteen."

Sonic and Jaune continued to laugh at the two of them, the latter ignoring his true age, while Ruby pouted and Oscar still continued to awkwardly chuckle.

When the laughter receded the three finally fell back into conversation.

"So, what exactly brings you guys over here?" Sonic decided to ask them. "Wanted to talk to Sonic the Hedgehog himself?"

"Yeah, kinda." Ruby admitted. "But we also came here because Oscar over here wanted to get an autograph from the hero of Station Square."

Sonic shrugged. "Sure, I can give the kid an autograph, anybody got a pen?"

Ruby laughed. "That's cute, but we're not actually talking about you. Although _I_ would like an autograph now that you mentioned it."

"I mean, sure." Sonic shrugged. "But really? Not me? Who would be The Hero of Station Square then?"

Jaune looked at him shocked. "Wait, you seriously don't know?"

"Nope."

For the first time, Oscar spoke up. "It's Tails. I wanted an autograph from Tails."

Sonic looked on in surprise. "What? Tails?!"

The hedgehog looked over at the fox, who put even more attention into his sloppy joe.

The hedgehog looked between the fox and the young boy. "Okay, hold on, what? Tails is the hero of Station Square, how did that happen?"

And so they told him.

Sonic watched with wide eyes and ears perked at the tale of the hero of Station Square, how he took out Eggman in one fell swoop, saved the entire city and stood proud and tall at the end of it. They talked about how everyone in Station Square remembered that day and how he was even awarded with a Chaos Emerald for it, but most importantly they told him about how much Tails believed in himself. Throughout the story, Tails stayed focused on his meal, trying to desperately ignore them.

"That day, Tails inspired me to be a better person, to stand up for what I believe in and honestly I wouldn't be alive today without him." Oscar stated.

Tails looked up from his food and looked over at the boy curiously. "Ever since I was a little boy, I always taught myself to put on a brave face and it was the day that Eggman attacked that I remembered that. Robots invaded our school and lined us all up, telling us that we were all under arrest and going to be shipped off to the prison in the Death Egg and nothing we could do could stop them. Everybody was scared and well… nobody knew what to do. But I remembered that you put on a brave face and stood up to Eggman when you were just a kid and I knew if you could, I could too. And… I fought back."

Sonic looked on with wide eyes.

"You should've seen this guy!" Ruby exclaimed. "Guy scoops up a tree branch from the school yard and drives it into one of the head robot's like it was nothing!"

Oscar chuckled at this and blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "I-it was nothing."

"Had a pretty girly scream though." Ruby remarked to which he deflated and she let out a light chuckle at his expense.

Jaune stepped in. "Everything was kinda a chain reaction after that. When everybody saw one of the others fight against the robots, and a freshman too, we all kinda knew what we had to do. People were picking up sticks from the schoolyard, pushing lockers down on these things, I think one weirdo ran around shirtless and chased one of those fly bot things with a pencil sharpener."

"Yeah… Jimmy's uh… Jimmy…" Ruby let out an awkward chuckle before getting back on topic. "But we were able to hold them off before the GUN guys came, evacuated the school and lead us all down here."

"None of that wouldn't have happened if I didn't see you all those years ago when I was a little kid. I-it really would mean the world to me if I could have your autograph."

Tails looked at them with an unreadable expression as he soaked it all in. Oscar's story, it was… touching. Tails had known that the people of Station Square were grateful for what he had done all those years ago. But never would he have thought his actions that day inspired anyone to move forward outside of himself and his own steps towards independence. After all, Sonic was the inspiring one and he was just the sidekick that was always happy to help but didn't really mean much to anyone. But standing here before him, looking at him with big brown eyes was a young man whose actions had saved so many from whatever lie in wait on the Death Egg. And now, he didn't know what to say.

"I-"

Suddenly, loud sirens let out throughout the entire base and they were bathed in red. Loud thuds rang out against the wall.

Everyone looked around in fear at this except for Sonic, who immediately nudged Tails.

"Hate to grab a bite and run, but we gotta juice and see just what the heck is going on out there!"

With that, the hog peeled out and ran out of the facility, calling Tails and Omega along after him.

The three rushed outside through the way they came and they were shocked at the sight before them.

"Chaos?!" Sonic gasped.

Pounding on the wall of the base was said water deity, but something was different about him. Chaos looked to be a little bigger than he was before, having slightly broader shoulders and his right arm having a sort of metallic skeletal structure within it which lead to a massive metal hand with a small red glow emanating from the palm.

"No, no. It's Chaos 1. How did he get his hands on a Chaos Emerald?!"

GUN soldiers fired at him from all directions, but their shots were useless when stacked up against the water god.

Chaos looked around at the gunfire and narrowed his eyes into a glare.

Chaos retracted his hands from the wall and proceeded to lash them out again in a sort of spin attack, knocking all the GUN soldiers and Omega off their feet while Sonic spindashed underneath and Tails flew over.

Sonic came out of his spindash and began to run towards Chaos while the others watched on.

"Hey 'ya big drip didn't I give you enough of a beat down last time?" He snarked.

Chaos glared at the hedgehog as he raced towards him, extending his arms in an attempt to catch him, but each attempt was met with him dodging left or right each and every time.

If Tails didn't know any better, he'd have thought the hog was performing Sonic's own quickstep technique. But he didn't really learn to do that until he was around fifteen. Then again, the kid did perform a small air boost at the birthday party.

But he put his attention back on the hog as he finally closed the gap, jumped into the air and homing in on the deity.

Chaos was easily splattered into little droplets of water as he landed on the other side and quickly dashed away.

"See nothin' to it. You can't keep this hog down 'ya melted popsicle."

But just as quickly as the drops of water dispersed they pooled together back into his form. And with that, he quickly lashed out at the hog with his mechanical arm, scooping him out of the air as if it was nothing before pulling him back to him.

Sonic struggled desperately to wriggle his way out of the ancient one's grasp but to no avail.

Electricity then surged from the glowing red gem on his hand causing the child to let out a piercing shriek as thousands of volts of electricity poured into his body for a single instant. And just as quickly as he was brought in he was chucked to a wall, where he lie unmoving.

" _ **SONIC!"**_

"Open fire!" One of the gun officers barked and immediately they went back to shooting at Chaos again, Omega doing the same.

Tails was on his feet again, rushing to his friend's aid. Hoping and praying that he hadn't just lost his friend again.

 _Not gain… not again…_

 _Chaos. Please, not again!_

And he was at his side, immediately putting his head to his chest in hopes that he would hear something, anything.

And luckily, his response came in a steady, albeit slow heartbeat.

Tails let out a sigh of relief. Sonic was safe. He was okay. Just unconscious.

But he wouldn't be for long if Chaos was still able to rampage here in Station Square.

Tails looked up from where his brother lay and glared at the water deity as the weapons of the GUN agents did nothing to stop him.

At the mere sight of the being that dared to bring harm to his brother, his eyes narrowed down in a hard glare. If looks could kill, Chaos would've evaporated as soon as Tails laid eyes on the monster.

But oh no, he was angry.

Sonic may have been down but that didn't mean that he couldn't do something. He had to believe in himself and he had to fight not just for Sonic, not even for the city but for himself.

Quickly, he found a bent piece of metal from the ground around him, the perfect weapon of choice.

"Hey Chaos!" Tails shouted at the beast.

Chaos looked away from all the military men and the robot firing on him and looked at the two tailed kit standing before him.

With a battle cry, Tails got to his feet and began to run towards him.

"Cease fire!" One of the men shouted and they did exactly so.

With his full attention on Tails, he watched and waited as the fox spun around before chucking the piece of Metal at him.

The Metal went flying straight for his brain and he knew that if that thing impacted him, it would be all over. Not when he still had so much to do to punish the people of the world.

So quickly, he threw up his metal arm in front of his face to block the shot. And with luck, Chaos had succeeded.

But unfortunately, it seemed his luck had turned for the worse as the shrapnel lodged itself within the metal of his arm causing it to short out and move around erratically as electricity surged around it.

And that was just the vantage point Tails needed as he met him jumped into the air and swung his Tails at the brain with such force that it flew out of the water and into a nearby drainage pipe. And in its place the water dissipated only to leave the glowing yellow Chaos Emerald is left in its place.

Tails landed on the ground in a crouch as he huffing and puffing with his eyes screwed shut, the Chaos Emerald before him.

For a moment, there was nothing but the fox's heavy breathing as he just was there in the center of the street waiting for anything to happen.

But there was nothing.

And quickly, Tails scooped up the Emerald as people began to cheer for him. But he cared nothing for them. Rather than stay and celebrate he ran to the one person in the world that meant the most to him.

When he arrived, Sonic, with an eye half open couldn't help but smile at him despite being on the ground.

"S-S-Sonic!" Tails cried. "Y-you're okay."

The hog let out a cough but continued to smile. "Course I'm okay. You really thought a few little sparks could keep me down?"

Tails couldn't help but smile at this and quickly wrapped the hedgehog in a hug, who let out a yelp at the squeeze.

Immediately Tails retracted. "Oh no, I'm so sorry."

But Sonic shook his head. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Nice work, _Hero of Station Square."_

At that, GUN soldiers immediately came over insisting that Sonic get some medical attention. Sonic refused, but Tails was quick to intervene.

"Of course. Please take good care of him." Tails said.

He then looked to Sonic. "Just a quick patch up, and after that it's off to the Mystic Ruins."

Sonic smiled. "Yeah, off to Mystic Ruins."

"But in the meantime, I've got an autograph to give."

 **[1] The only time you'll probably see the name Robotnik in this fic. I prefer Eggman because that is his original name, but I decided to respect the flashback and keep it correct.  
[2] He doesn't have a name outside of "The President" so I made one up.  
[3] I'm trash and decided to throw in a reference to RWBY with these three characters simply because I had no idea what to do about the humans here. It will likely be a reference I will come to regret years later when I look back on this fic. But meh. **

**AND IT'S FINALLY DONE.  
This chapter took a lot longer than I would've ever expected it too. I figured it'd be short, maybe 3K words or so. I'm so sorry that it took so long, I really wanted it out in December but I guess the trouble of the holidays and just other stuff got in the way and well, I guess it's been tough but now we can finally rest easy now that this chapter is here. Honestly, this chapter turned out a whole lot different than when I started it. Originally, it was just gonna be "Oh, we're in Station Square, Tails talks about the time he saved the town and then dundundun Chaos appears" and then I got the thought to move some of the stuff I had on GUN here and that it would be better if someone else told the story. The flashback moved so many times at the beginning of this chapter as well… it went from the beginning to Oscar telling it and then back to the beginning again. It was wild.  
But yeah, that's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed what I had here and the developments we got for both the world and the characters.**

 **But uh… before we go, I have something I need to bring up here because I feel it's important that you guys that have been reading my story know since it did kind of effect this story. This whole thing happened like last month but due to my slow writing, I guess I didn't quite have the time to say it here. So… with that said let's get into it.  
In Reviving Hope Part 2, I had mentioned that a large part of the reason that that chapter was late was because I had decided to put a lot of effort into a personal project that I was working on.  
Well… that personal project wasn't quite a personal project.  
During 2017, I was asked by someone that used to be my friend to create ideas for a Sonic game and I did that. This idea would eventually become something called Sonic Islands which was meant to be a pitch to Sega to basically be a 3D Mania. Of course, I didn't believe him immediately, but as he provided more and more evidence to me over the course of months and months with video calls, pictures, constant meetings etc. Me and about 20 other people eventually found ourselves believing him as it seemed to get more and more real.  
And then it wasn't. Honestly, it seems silly now that this actually happened. It was discovered by some people with actual connections that it was a load of bull and all of us got out of there.  
But for a while, I spent writing that script and that took away from a lot of time that could be spent working not only on this fic but my own stuff as well.  
So with all of that said, I want to issue an apology to all of you who were eagerly waiting for a new chapter at that time since I pretty much up and abandoned you guys for a good couple of months. It wasn't fair to you and I'm honestly and truly sorry about that.  
But I also want to show you all what I worked on as well. Since all of this went to crap and I wrote a full length script for this game, I think that all that work should be shared so… I will. Linked below is that script as well as a little more on the situation that went down as well as all the work that I put into it. I hope those of you who choose to read it enjoy it and hey, you can tell me what you think in a DM. While I'm down to talk about what happened, I am not going to sharing anything on the situation other than what's on the document.  
**

 **Link:**

 **docs  
** **.  
google  
.com (slash) document / d / 187SBeYC41JIKOJUYfRAcMbKDA23SSuo-4sptORPjkvQ / edit ? usp = sharing**

 **(Make sure to remove spaces and replace ((slash)) with the actual symbol since FFN is tricky about links so difficult I had to split this in lines and try several times)**

 **Thanks for your time everyone, sorry about the delay for this chapter, thank you so much for 100 reviews again, happy anniversary, sorry about the drama bomb, I hope those of you who read the script enjoy it and tell me your thoughts in DMs and as always,  
R&R**


	15. Chapter 14: Step in the Ring

**And… We're two months late. I'm so sorry… Like really, really sorry. Figuring out my scheduling this year for writing amongst other things has been a bit of a pain and getting this chapter out has been my top priority since February. And now that it's finally here, I hope you all can forgive me.**

 **But with that said, review replies have been moved to the end of the chapter so the top doesn't look as clunky and so I can add anything that may correspond with this one and music cues have been changed.**

 **All notes will be at the end of the chapter however, ones with [M1] or whatever other number will specifically be for music.**

 **But on a much happier and final note, we hit 50 favorites! And we're almost at 150 reviews! Thanks so much guys!**

 **So with that being said, let's get into it.**

 **Trials of War:  
Chapter 14-  
Step in the Ring**

Infinite, a being of endless destruction, who struck fear into the hearts of many simply by stepping onto the field of battle, who wouldn't think twice when it came to ending someone's life for the glory of the Eggman Empire was left with nothing but quiet flying tonight.

His mission today was simple, scope out the world see if he could find something of interest. Whether that interesting thing may be the resistance base or another one of the scattered GUN squadrons, Eggman didn't really care. If it would bring them further in their goals of global conquest then that was good enough for him.

And that's how he found himself with the calm breeze and the open night sky. No battles or war plans to worry about just the open air and his thoughts to keep him company.

 _Six months…_

 _Six whole months…_

 _For six months, Infinite had been thrust into an entirely new life…_

 _He had done nothing but bring destruction in his wake…_

 _And through all of that, he had brought the world to his knees._

 _Most would be broken inside. But for Infinite and his strength, only found glee in what they were doing._

 _All the pain, all the suffering…_

Infinite immediately went to rub lawed fingers against the ruby on his chest, feeling the gem let out both a light glow and gentle thrum that sent a shiver down his spine.

The feeling elicited a pleasure in him that he couldn't quite describe but appreciated for The Phantom Ruby shared in his delight towards the pain and suffering that he brought upon the world.

 _To see the people run in fear…._

 _To watch them struggle as he so easily brought them within his grasp…_

 _And to see the light drain from their eyes…_

 _There's no greater feeling in the world than doing things for the glory of the Eggman Empire._

From underneath the mask, Infinite was practically giddy with excitement and wore the proudest smile.

 _Master is always so proud of him._

And that smile fell as recent events dawned on him.

 _That is… until recently…._

Infinite thought of Sonic's escape and how he was shown up in Viemigos all in the span of a few days. How had the world's strongest just been made a mockery of so quickly? For so long he had lived up to his name and displayed his infinite power as if it was nothing. He and the ruby didn't pull punches in any way but with the new surprises that kept showing up. He… he didn't know what to do…. And that indecisiveness had lead to defeat on multiple accounts.

 _Master had been merciful but that didn't mean he accepted his failure. No one bested Infinite… No one bested the Phantom Ruby… Not today… Not tomorrow… Not ev-_

Infinite was so wrapped in his thoughts that he didn't notice the large palm tree in his path and unfortunately for him, he slammed face first into it.

Infinite held his hand to his face in pain only for more pain to come in the form of not one, but two coconuts to fall on his head.

Infinite simply shook off the pain, but still grit his teeth in annoyance and sent a hard glare at the tree.

Without another word, Infinite raised a hand towards the offender and fired a blast at the tree, leaving only a pile of ash in its place.

And that brought a smile to his face.

But when the moment passed he wondered where he was. He was in a dense jungle of some kind filled with palm trees of varying sizes, that much was for sure. The sounds of the night jungle from the howls of monkeys to the cicadas letting out gentle chirps, slightly calmed him.

Still, he found something and he had his mission.

Quickly, he took to the air to see if he could get a better view and as soon as he broke the treeline, his eye narrowed into a hard glare as he saw it.

 **~Trials of War~**

Knuckles the Echidna, proud leader of the resistance stood before the emerald altar, glaring down one of his ancestors. The echidna was much larger than him, dressed in tribal wear and had his weapon dangerously pointed at the leader of the resistance. But right now, he took on his former role: Guardian of the Master Emerald. Or at least he would be if he didn't have this idiot to deal with.

"Let me through!" Knuckles shouted.

But the warrior refused, still pointing his weapon at him. "Chief Pachacamac was very clear. You and your friends are to stay within your temple and away from the Master Emerald."

But Knuckles was having absolutely none of that, glaring down the guard who simply replied by keeping his weapon pointed dangerously at him.

"Do you even know who I am?!"

"A lost young one who disgraces his people by bringing outsiders to our sacred land and spread their conflict to us, thereby putting all of us at risk."

Knuckles clenched his fists and grinded his teeth together.

But the guard simply laughed. "Clearly you are misguided as Chief Pachacamac said if you think that getting angry will do anything. Are you going to fight me and suffer the consequences of your actions or are you going to throw a tantrum like a child?"

Fury blazed in his eyes as he screwed his eyes shut and reared his fist back, ready to throw caution to the wind just to teach this guy a lesson. In response, he raised his spear further.

"Stop!" A voice cried out.

 **[M1]** Immediately, both froze and turned to the source of the voice to find none other than Tikal, looking fearfully at the two.

"What are you doing?"

The two look at each other for a moment before begrudgingly putting down their fists and spear respectfully. "Nothing."

"That didn't look like nothing." She frowned.

The two turn to eye each other again and it's the guard who decided to speak up.

"Please forgive me, Tikal. But I was only doing my job. This ingrate tried to get to the Master Emerald and of course, I couldn't allow that to happen."

"Ingrate?! You're the one who-"

"Why wouldn't he be allowed to see the Master Emerald?" Tikal asked.

Once again, both of them stopped at her words.

The guard frowned. "Tikal, we have been over this. While you do have privileges to view the Master Emerald, not everyone in the tribe has such an honor. This one especially, with his strange ways and how he brings outsiders to our land. They especially should not."

"But the Master Emerald is a gift from Chaos itself, just as the Chao were. It should be shared with all rather than stowed away and left to sit by itself."

"The chief does not share the same sentiments."

"He has been wrong before."

"Watch your tongue."

Tikal frowned, but didn't say anything to him. "You want to see the Master Emerald?"

Knuckles nodded.

"Then come along." She said, walking towards the Emerald and walking past the guard.

"But you can't just-"

"I still have the authority to choose as I please. Whatever punishment will come from my father for this will come only to me."

The guard frowned but allowed the two to past to which Knuckles gave him a smug smile.

With that, the two stood before the Master Emerald, its comforting energy rolling off towards them in greeting. For Knuckles, all the tension that had previously enwrapped him left as he was in the presence of the one constant in his life.

Tikal couldn't help but notice this and smile at him.

Knuckles slowly approached, kneeling before the gemstone before lightly placing his hands on it.

Immediately, the guard snapped to attention at the sight. "No touching!" He barked, brandishing his spear and threatening the younger echidna.

But Tikal simply shook her head. "Please."

The guard glared at her before uttering, "Your father will be hearing about this." and going back into position.

With that, Knuckles continued to keep his hands on the Master Emerald, allowing the energies to flow through him for a few moments. Allowing himself to become one with chaos. And shortly, everything disappeared around him and it was only him in his element, alone with the Master Emerald.

Very rarely would Knuckles the Echidna use his native tongue, having chosen to use the English language as it seemed to be easier to communicate with others. But when it came to him and the Master Emerald, he wanted to give it the upmost respect. So when he prayed to it, he often found himself referring to the language of the ancient echidna.

 _The servers are the seven chaos. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart. The heart is the controller. The controller serves to unify the Chaos…_

Immediately at those words, something within him clicked as if something had been unlocked within him. With that, any bit of remaining animosity was lost as his shoulders relaxed, his mind eased and a small smile graced his muzzle.

 _ **Welcome, my guardian.**_

 _Master Emerald, as always, it is an honor to be in your presence. Thank you for allowing me to connect with you on the spiritual level._

 _ **Few are given the honor, young one. But as my appointed guardian, one of the few chosen children of Chaos to be given the light, you have my blessing.**_

 _Thank you, Master Emerald._

 _ **But of course… Now, what wisdom do you seek?**_

The euphoric air around him began to dispel for a moment as thoughts of all that was wrong with the world came to him. Eggman, Infinite, the war, Chaos, Shadow, everything just came back to him in that moment. Fists clenched, shoulders shook, eyeridge furrowed. So much had happened and in a condition of high vulnerability, it didn't do well for him.

 _ **Hush child, you are safe here.**_ The Emerald insisted as a wave of energy washed over him, calming his nerves.

Knuckles took a few moments to breathe and calm himself.

 _ **Now speak.**_

 _Master Emerald… I- I don't know what to do next. For months, we've just been winging it, reacting to attacks and hardly ever making any major victories until Sunset Heights. We nearly lost it all in the Death Egg. But now, what is there? An assault on Metropolis is impossible at this time and many places in the world have been taken for far too long to attempt a full liberation. I don't want to wait around for the next attack, I want to do something._

For a few moments, he didn't get a response aside from the thrum of energy from the emerald to his body.

But finally, it answered. _**I do not know the true course of action to take.**_

Knuckles deflated at that.

 _ **This war is one that has caused a chain of events greater than anyone in this world could know. The intrusion of a being that should never have formed has brought about destruction on a grand scale. But your efforts with the resistance has begun to tip the scales of time and bring about the possibilities of a better tomorrow.**_

Knuckles smiled at this.

 _ **But even now it is not enough.**_

Knuckles smile fell.

 _ **As we stand, space and time are at a crossroad of infinite possibilities. Ones where Eggman is victorious and shapes the world into his perfect image with his champion at his side for all eternity and ones where balance is restored and the world is better off for it. Everything that happens now constantly throws the future down a different path and the true outcome will not be revealed until total victory has been attained on one of the sides.**_

Knuckles nodded intently.

 _ **For now, I can leave you with words of wisdom. True strength does not lie in the sheer numbers of an army, but the bonds that hold them together. Even those who have been set adrift or lost to you may return when it seems they may be lost. You must also have faith in even the lowest of your ranks. Untapped potential lies within.**_

 _ **But above all else, beware the Phantom Ruby.**_

 _The Phantom Ruby?_

 _ **When the time comes and stories from far off lands have been told, return to me and I will tell you all you need to know.**_

 _Right. Thank you, Master Emerald._

 _ **You are most welcome, My Guardian. I am proud of you. While the current outcome may be uncertain, your strength and those of your closest allies is unlike any the world has ever seen. I believe you can do this.**_

And with that, the Master Emerald cut off his connection to him and let him be.

For a few moments, Knuckles stayed knelt before the Emerald before he opened his eyes to the world before him.

And before him was a sunset colored Echidna staring at him with wide eyes as the ethereal glow of the Emerald faded around him.

"You are One with Chaos?"

"One with Chaos… what?"

Tikal shook her head. "I mean, you can connect with the Master Emerald? One with Chaos?"

It took Knuckles a moment to figure out what she was referring to. But then it clicked. She was asking whether or not he was Chaos Sensitive.

Knuckles simply shook his head. "I'm not. Well, I mean, I am but sorta."

Tikal raised an eyeridge at this.

"My connection with Chaos is an… interesting one. I don't really have any of the special powers that comes with being One with Chaos. But I do have the ability to sense the Master Emerald, Chaos Emeralds and other forms of intense chaos energy along with a few extra tricks with the Master Emerald."

"Incredible. I've never met someone like that before."

Knuckles grinned at that. "Yeah I-" He stopped. Realizing what he was about to say and let out a heavy sigh. "You can say I'm used to being one of a kind."

Tikal looked confusedly at him. "I'm sorry did I say something wrong?"

Knuckles shook his head, "No, I-"only for his com to go off. Without wasting another moment, he answered. "You've got Knuckles."

"Knuckles, we've got trouble. I need you in the map room right away. "

"Right. I'm on my way."

Knuckles was about to run off only to remember he was still with Tikal. "I'm sorry, I have to go. My friends need me."

She nodded. "I understand. But remember your promise. Please bring Chaos home."

Knuckles nodded. "I promise."

And with that, he ran off. **[1] [M1 End]**

 **~Trials of War~**

Infinite glared intently as he looked out from where he was floating.

Below him, he could see a vast tropical jungle that seemed to sprawl on for miles and miles on end that lead out to the great wide sea.

But along the beach he saw a gigantic wall towering high into the air, closing something off from the jungle with three watch towers sprawled at equal intervals. Atop each one was a flag baring the ever familiar resistance star and the object of Infinite's attention at the moment.

It took everything within him not to fly over and tear the thing to shreds, but he kept calm. From what he understood, he hadn't been spotted yet. He used that to his advantage and quickly called upon one of his special powers, invisibility. **[2]**

He then flew to one of the watch towers and landed on top of one in a crouch.

The guard inside jumped at this, immediately looking outside their window only to see nothing. They watched and waited for a few moments but still couldn't see anything. Satisfied, they returned to their post.

From his perch, Infinite was able to get a better view of what was behind the wall and he didn't like it one bit.

Below him was a small village along the boardwalk leading out to the sea, along said boardwalks were dimly lit lanterns, crates baring the resistance stars and huts, each with their lights off. A few humans and mobians walked along the boardwalk, keeping alert as they clutched wispons close to them.

Still invisible, Infinite jumped down to the boardwalks and quickly hid behind one of the huts.

He pressed a clawed finger to one of his ears and it let out a faint red glow as the faint sound of static rang out for a bit.

Suddenly, there was a click and Eggman's voice came to life on the other end. "Infinite. You've called. I hope that means you've found something worthwhile."

Infinite nodded. "I have, Master. I've found some sort of settlement, clearly associated with the resistance."

He could hear Eggman perk up at that. "Really now? Would you mind giving me a visual?"

"Of course, Master. Switching to camera mode."

With that, the right side of his mask began to let out a little red light and from it, Eggman could see everything, the huts, the guards, the wall, everything.

"It looks to me that you've found yourself in a village in Adabat. Give me a moment to confirm your location."

"Right."

A few seconds of rapid typing sounded off before Eggman spoke again. "Yes, yes. This is the village close to where the Temple of Gaia used to be. But it looks to me that this location has not been occupied by the Empire and has instead been taken by the Resistance."

"If I had to guess, it appears that this would be some sort of safe haven, master."

"Yes, I believe you're right." A beat of silence passed before Eggman spoke again. "Infinite, I'm sending Shadow and a portion of the army your way, we will attack and show them what happens when you attempt to hide from my might. The village will be destroyed before the sun rises."

"Understood, Master. What should I do until they arrive?"

"Entertain our guests."

Infinite couldn't help but grin underneath his mask. "Thank you, Master."

And with that, he let the all drop along with his invisibility and floated into the air.

Immediately, Wispons pointed at him and sirens blared.

 **~Trials of War~**

Everyone was already gathered in the Map Room looking at the screen in horror.

Knuckles ran into the room, surprised that everyone was already gathered but quickly made his way to the front of the room where Amy was. She was looking down at the personal touch screen, frantically moving things around while a few others gave out their own words of advice.

"Guys, what's going on?!" Knuckles shouted.

Amy immediately shot her head up at him and glared at the Echidna. "THERE YOU ARE! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'E BEEN WAITING HERE FOR YOU?!"

"Geez, Amy. It hasn't even been two minutes."

"Yeah, well in those two minutes, things got worse!"

"How much worse?"

Siler intervened and pointed up at the screen. "Just take a look."

Knuckles followed and immediately, his heart dropped at the sight. Infinite was onscreen fighting off resistance fighters in Adabat without so much as breaking a sweat.

"What?! How is he there? How did he find our safe haven in Adabat?!"

"I don't know?!" Amy shouted. "But I know that we have to do something quick or else we're going to be looking at a lot of casualties!"

"Not today!" Sonic shouted. "We can't afford to lose anymore lives."

"Looks like you're too late." Vector shook his head. "By the time we get there, there's not gonna be anybody or anything left and if Eggman calls in anymore of his heavy hitters then we can kiss all those people we saved from the Eggman Empire goodbye."

"We're going to need a plan." Espio insisted. "If we go in aimlessly, we're going to face a swift defeat."

"To heck with a plan!" Knuckles shouted. "We need to get there now! I am calling all forces to Adabat right away! Amy, you and I are going too. We need to act now. Sonic, Silver, you two are our fastest. Run ahead and get the party started. We'll be joining you shortly."

"Let's go!" The two hedgehogs shouted and with that, they ran out the room, dived off the shore of the island and ran off to Adabat.

 **~Trials of War~**

In no time flat, Sonic and Silver had arrived in Adabat, and were shocked to see everything in person.

The once beautiful night sky was obscured by the black smoke billowing from the huts and crates alike all over the village, resistance fighters stationed at Adabat were ducking for cover, doing their best to fight through all the smoke.

But amongst it all, they could see a red blur zooming wildly and firing out laser blasts at any of the resistance fighters with ease.

"This is really bad, Sonic!" Silver shouted.

"I know! Infinite totally trashed the place!"

"What are we gonna do, there are too many people but Infinite's here too!"

"We've gotta hold out and take are of Infinite since he's the main problem! Try and get him out of the city and hope we can buy enough time for the resistance to get here and get everyone to safety!"

"Right." Silver nodded and began to slightly hover over the ground, his energy flaring around him.

"Try and drag him out of the sky. I'll take him on the ground and take him on."

Silver nodded again and took off into the sky. **[M2]**

Infinite in the meantime was still flying around in a streak of red, striking down fighters without any problem at all. That was until a cyan blur slammed into his own, knocking him into a nearby hut.

The masked one groaned at this as he rose from the wreckage.

"Hey ugly, remember me?!" Silver shouted.

Infinite looked at the hedgehog and grinned. "Why of course! Chaos' own defender of time and space! Here to face me himself! I'm touched, to what do I owe this honor?"

"When you kill countless innocents who wanted nothing to do with this war, you get my attention! You've pissed a lot of people off!"

"You say they do not want conflict but they made that mistake as soon as they decided to side with you and your bothersome lot. The same happened to Sunset Heights and here we are today fighting for another place that will only see destruction because of the resistance."

Silver grit his teeth in anger at him. "Does anyone but you believe your lies?!"

"I speak nothing but the truth." Infinite chuckled. "You call this place a safe haven but look around you and tell me what you really see."

For a brief moment, Silver's resolve fell and he took a look down to see the fire and destruction all around him.

That was all the jackal needed as he used the opportunity to ram into the hedgehog and send him flying into the air.

"So easily distracted like the rest of the rabble." Infinite mused as he raised his hand to fire at the spot Silver had been without even batting an eye.

An explosion rang out as it hit something.

With that, Infinite dusted off his hands and started to fly back to continue his warpath.

"Wanna bet!" Siler shouted as he raced towards Infinite and sent him crashing down into the ground.

The jackal growled at this as Silver jumped off of him and fired a psychic knife which the jackal easily dodged by jumping to the side.

Unfortunately for him, that did not give him time to avoid the supersonic hedgehog that came boosting into him with all his might.

"Yo. Speaking of people you've pissed off, Infinite. Ready for round three?" Sonic declared.

With that, the two hedgehogs lunged at him, fists extended forward to which he teleported out of the way.

Sonic stumbled over while Silver had to use his powers to keep from falling, opting to get airborne again. And just in the nick of time as what appeared to be some sort of drill made out of his red energy pierced the boardwalk where he once stood.

Silver looked to the attack to see that Infinite firing lasers at him that he had to quickly avoid by flying around them.

The focus on trying to shoot Siler out of the sky gave Sonic the opening he needed for an attack. He jumped up into the air and homed in on Infinite only for the jackal to scoff and throw up a wall of cubes that he easily bounced off of.

Sonic landed in a crouch lightly skidding against the boardwalk. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that putting up walls only makes people sad? Why don't you open up, buddy? I just wanna talk!"

"Try tearing them down yourself and maybe then we can chat, hero."

"Have it your way." Not even batting an eye, Sonic got up and boosted into the wall of cubes, hoping he would be able to penetrate them.

While this was happening, Siler was able to dodge another laser before firing off a psyhic knife towards him.

Infinite saw this and found himself on a collision course between the two.

So he took the opportunity and blipped out of existence again and off to somewhere else.

This unfortunately left Sonic to run straight into the psyhic knife and knocking him to the ground.

"Ow!"

"Sonic!" Silver cried out.

He tried to go down to his friend only for something to appear out the corner of his eye.

Acting on pure instinct alone, Siler brought up a field of energy in a brash attempt to protect himself but it was just a second too late as Infinite curled in on himself and let out spikes of pure energy into Silver knocking him out of the sky and straight to the ground where he unfortunately landed atop his blue companion.

Infinite floated down to them and laughed. "Oh yes. You two definitely showed me. All that power and yet you fail so miserably? How pathetic."

"Yeah, well we're not down yet!" Sonic shouted.

Infinite raised an eyeridge at this, seeing the two hedgehogs still piled on top of each other. He shook his head. "I've heard enough."

He raised his hand towards them, ready to fire only for a loud noise to ring out all around them.

"What?!"

And the three looked up into the sky to see a multitude of airships arriving on the scene.

Sonic let out a whoop at this. "Haha, looks like the cavalry has arrived, meaning times up for you, Infinite!"

Silver gulped at this. "Uh… Sonic?"

But Infinite just laughed. "You fool! You really think things have changed?"

"Oh yeah."

"Well, look to your saviors."

And Sonic did only for his smile to fall.

Dropping from the ships were not resistance fighters but Eggman robots and they began to make the devastation on the village even worse.

Infinite raised his hand up in the air again, a laser prepared to fire. "Let this be the last thing you both see before I end your miserable lies forever."

Sonic and Silver desperately tried to untangle themselves but it was no use.

Just as Infinite was ready to fire, a large bundle of bushy white fur wrapped around his body.

"Wha-what is this?!"

"You picked the wrong village to mess with, buddy!" The owner of the fur shouted.

All three of them looked up at them to see none other than a grey furred lemur wearing a skintight body suit with orange lines running down the sides of it along with a yellow tanktop and fingerless gloves. They discovered that the large bundle of fur that was wrapped around Infinite was actually her tail, which she held onto like it was a rope.

"I- wh-who are you?!" Infinite shouted.

"The name's Tangle. Don't wear it out." She smirked, giving him a two fingered salute.

She then grabbed onto her tail with both hands and smiled. "And you, you're toast!"

With a mighty heave, Tangle the Lemur swung her tail around, with Infinite still wrapped inside and threw him into one of the already burned huts.

"Come on, Adabat Resistance! Are we gonna let this creep take out everything we swore to protect here?!"

The soldiers hiding there lifted their heads up from where they were hiding and brandished their weapons, looking around at the swarm of robots all around them.

Scared, but determined they charged bringing on an all out war despite their dwindling numbers to Eggman's mass amount of machinery.

With that, Tangle went over to Sonic and Silver quickly helping up the two hedgehogs.

"You guys okay?" Tangle asked.

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, thanks for the save, Tangle."

At that Tangle gave a cheeky smile while nervously rubbing the back of her head. "Ah, no worries just doing my job and all, saving people in the resistance because that's what heroes like you do not that I'm as good as you guys but ahahahaha…"

Sonic and Silver gave each other a look and shook their heads.

Tangle saw this and cleared her throat, taking on a little bit of a more serious composure. "Wha-what's the status on the rest of the resistance? Don't tell me you guys are our only back up."

She then caught herself and added. "Not that you guys aren't plenty enough just worried because of all of this."

She gestured to the fire and the robots parading around.

Silver was the one to answer. "Reinforcements are on the way straight from home base, we just gotta hold out a little longer."

Tangle nodded. "Got it. Let's do thi-"

Tangle was cut off when Infinite came bursting from the hut with a burst of fire. His eyes shot around the battlefield until they landed on the trio.

Tangle sighed. "Oh yeah… I forgot about hi- WOAH!"

In the blink of an eye, Infinite had been upon her and raised her up into the air by her neck. His cold, sharp fingers placed tightly and firmly around her in a deadly chokehold eliciting pained gasps from the lemur. She desperately tried to claw her way free but to no avail.

" _ **You!**_ You would dare lay your hands on me?!"

Tangle could only respond with more gasps for air.

Sonic and Silver were immediately off at that. "Hey! Hands off, creep!"

"Leave her alone!"

But before they could even react a blue laser struck Infinite in the back and caused him to loosen his grip on Tangle.

This gave her just the opportunity to pry his hands open and cause her to drop her.

She landed on the ground with a thud and let out a sharp gasp as Sonic and Silver quickly ran to check up on her.

But Infinite was now whipped around looking towards the direction of the shot. "That blast! I recognize it anywhere! Show yourself now! You cannot hide from the Empire's might!"

But Infinite saw nothing but the trees and growled. He didn't waste time though, firing a laser at the same group of trees that he knew the blast came from and fired.

An explosion rang out at that, scorching the foliage with little problem, but Infinite caught sight of a figure dropping from them and breaking out into a run back into the jungle.

"No! No escaping!"

But that was cut off. "Hey, that goes for you too buddy!" Sonic shouted.

Infinite turned around to see the hedgehog wrapped in Tangle's tail before being flung straight towards him. But it got even worse when Silver gave him a telekinetic boost that sent the blue blur slamming into him before he could even defend himself.

When he landed on the ground, Sonic got up and boosted into him, forcing his body back even further before a psychic knife slammed into his body and again, sent him skidding to a halt.

He groaned as the three approached him.

Silver stood proud and tall at the front of the group, his hands glowing dangerously with psychic power. "Final warning, call off your robots, leave this place now or I swear. We won't hesitate to put an end to you right here, right now."

"Yeah, it's over Infinite!" Sonic agreed.

Infinite rose to his feet, shaking himself off. "You really think you've won haven't you? But look around, your so called safe haven is destroyed and you've lost countless numbers. Whether this battle ends in my victory or defeat, we will be sure to show the world what happens when you defy the Empire. This will always be an example to show what failure to comply will do."

At that, the sound of more airships sounded off causing all three to gasp.

"No! Not more robots, come on!" Sonic groaned.

But he was only met with the sound of a familiar laugh. "Is that anyway to treat your backup, Sonic?"

They looked up into the sky and to everyone's shock and relief resistance soldiers began to pour from the ships and began to turn the tide of the battle. Eggman robots were being destroyed left and right while others ran out towards the jungle to evacuate survivors.

But it got even better when familiar faces landed net to them.

Charmy Bee was the first, landing next to them and giving Sonic a high five. "Hey guys!"

Next was Espio, causing Sonic to slightly jump in surprise. "We are glad to assist."

Vector was next, dropping in with a loud thud. "And I know I want payback after last time."

"Now, now boys… you have to remember, ladies first." Rouge teased as she swooshed down and leaned on Silver's shoulder. "I want first crack at him."

"Get in line!" Ray shouted as he landed net to her. "I still wanna get back at him for what he did to Viemigos."

Mighty too landed with a large thump. "Normally I'm not one for violence but when you do something like this, that goes out the window."

Finally, the two leaders of the resistance landed in front of them. "And we're gonna make you pay." Amy announced.

"As leader of the resistance, I am calling you under arrest." Knuckles announced. "You can come quietly or we'll all make you pay."

With that, the world's heroes stood against Infinite, each of them ready to take him down.

Then Big appeared behind them. "Wait, was I supposed to come in earlier?"

Everyone sighed at this, but Infinite took the distraction as the perfect opportunity.

"Shadow, now!"

Shadow appeared out of a flash of orange light and fired off a Chaos Spear at the group that shocked all of them.

Some fell into the water, others were thrown into the air.

"Shadow!" Both Rouge and Sonic called out.

But Shadow was already racing off towards the jungle.

Sonic was quick to his feet and dashed off after him.

"Sonic!" Amy ried out.

Amy and Rouge tried to go after them as well but was immediately cut off by a wall of cubes.

She turned to look at Infinite. "No, there will be no interruptions."

Amy gulped. "Oh boy… I hope Beta Squad is having a better time with evacuations." **[End M2]**

 **~Trials of War~**

Celeste and the Beta Squad were doing their best but with all the chaos going on, it was hard to lead people to the waiting airships.

"Alright everyone, keep your heads down and whatever you do, don't get to lose to my friends got it!"

Right now, the five of them formed a ring around the crowd of people fighting off any and all Eggman robots that would come their way. Rhythm would bash and crash any Eggpongs that came nearby, Gadget practically had his stream of fire going constant at Eggpongs, Corvin had his drill wispon mounted to his hand and would drill anybody that came nearby.

A man in a large trench coat and a top hat that shaded his eyes shivered as he watched everything go on around him. "A-a-are you sure we're going to make it s-safe-safely?"

"Of course we-"

But she was cut off by what was none other than… well the same man himself but he had changed his voice to a much higher pitch and was a lot more squeaky. He had lifted up his right hand which had a puppet of a Chao on it and began to make it move as if it were speaking. "Of course we will, Wentos! Whaddya think that The Resistance is gonna let us down? You're outta your mind if you think that!"

"R-r-right…" Wentos shakily nodded his head.

Fierro gave him an odd look at that, but decided not to say anything.

A ream colored Yak who had been terrified by everything had been holding on dearly to his dear friend, Rudi as they made their way down the do. To have been awoken to the sounds of battle when they were supposed to be safe here in Adabat wasn't fun for anyone. And for this Yak, he trembled in fear as his friend enveloped him in a hug.

It was Rudi who spoke up. "How much longer until we get to the escape vehicles?"

"Not much further." Fierro said. She pointed up ahead and the parked aircrafts were only a few meters away.

Teanchai glared at the yak who was so close to his daughter and wanted nothing more than to tell him off, but decided not to. There would be a time and a place for that when they got to safety. But there was one thing he could complain about now. "Hmph! This is exactly why I didn't want this village to be involved with this war! Look at what's happened to our village!"

"Dad, now really isn't the time…"

"This is the perfect time!"

Fierro pinched the ridge of her nose at this, "Sir, please… We're doing our best to-"

"Everybody down!" The four other resistance members shouted.

Immediately, everyone dropped to the floor and just in time too as lasers from oncoming robots fired down on them.

Fierro looked up from where she lay and saw that they were just in front of the ships and would soon make their escape. The only problem… a mess of robots stood between them and their goal.

 **~Trials of War~**

 **[M3]** Shadow the Hedgehog made a mad dash through the jungle, swerving around trees, jumping over roots and doing his best to get as far away as possible from the massacre happening in the village. He had done his part and was out of there.

Unfortunately for him, a very stubborn and persistent hedgehog was right on his trail.

"You're not going anywhere, Shadow!" Sonic shouted.

Shadow growled. _Why… Why did he have to make this so difficult?_ "Don't you have anything better to do than annoy me, you blue idiot?!"

"Nope!" I'm chasin' you down in the jungle just like old times.

"First space, now the jungle? Don't you get tired of these call back settings?" He retorted.

Sonic smiled. "In this world, we live on nostalgia!" **[3]**

Shadow huffed at this, but decided to try and leave him in the dust. With clenched fists, Shadow boosted off in a burst of speed that sent some of the trees around him lightly blowing back, his sunset colored aura appearing around him.

Sonic gasped at this before he smirked and boosted after him.

Quickly the hedgehog caught up to him and attempted to ram the ultimate life form in an attempt to throw him off course and into a tree or something. But there was nothing but the screeching sounds of the two auras clashing out against one another.

"What are you doing fighting with Eggman, Shadow?!" Sonic shouted. "You should be here with us, not against us!"

"I don't have to tell you anything, Sonic!"

"Oh yes you do!" Soni shook his head. "You've been going around the world doing this garbage for nearly a year now. I want answers and I want them now."

Shadow bit his lip for a moment as he stared at Sonic before he furrowed his brow.

"How's this for an answer? Chaos Spear!"

Immediately, Shadow spread his arms wide as five arrows of raw Chaos Energy came from his body in a star formation, forcing Sonic to gasp as he had to lunge over a tree branches in order to avoid one of the blasts of energy before sliding into and swerving around two others and actually having to come to a complete stop to avoid the last few.

But the extra acrobatics were just what Shadow needed to pull ahead of Sonic and make his escape.

"Oh no you don't!" Sonic shouted as he poured on more speed.

Shadow let out a groan at this while Sonic jumped into the air and tried to home in on him.

Quickly, Shadow was able to swerve away from him while Sonic hit the ground and rolled a bit before uncurling and continuing making chase.

Shadow needed to lose him and lose him now. "Chaos Spear!" He shouted again.

The beams shot out behind him to which Sonic easily dodged them yet again and caught up to Shadow.

"Just leave me alone!" Shadow snapped.

"You're not getting away from me!" Sonic shouted.

With that, Sonic lunged for him. This completely caught Shadow off guard as the hedgehog's body crashed into him in a vicious tackle, knocking him right off his feet and sending them both tumbling to the ground at high speeds. Both got scratches and scrapes on their bodies from things like rocks stray tree branches and the like as they slid.

In a few moments, they broke through the treeline and skidded to a halt just before they could fall into a massive pit.

At this Sonic breathed a sigh of relief. And quickly the two got up to their feet and faced one another, fists up and ready to fight.

The two combatants scanned the battlefield to try and get a better grip of their surroundings. They were in a clearing of some kind, the thick jungle all around them with a massive hole in the ground.

The place seemed familiar to Sonic but he couldn't figure out why. What would a random hole be doing in the ground in the middle of the jungle in Adabat…

And then it clicked.

Memories of a gigantic titan made of temples from across the globe floating beside him as he was glowing his radiant gold flashed in his mind's eye followed by a long lost friend's smiling face and a lots of chocolate.

This was where the Temple of Gaia used to be. Not only that, but this is where Chip had learned of his true identity.

Sonic couldn't help but put a hand to his wrist at this, feeling where his friend's charm was situated underneath his glove.

But that was all the opening Shadow needed as he took the opportunity to lose the gap and slug Sonic in the face.

Sonic was flung backwards with a cry.

 **~Trials of War~**

 **[M4]** Things were not going well for the star fighters of the resistance as they faced their deadliest enemy.

The likes of Amy, Knuckles, Big, Rouge, Silver, Espio, Big, Tangle and Mighty had shakily risen to their feet after Shadow's Chaos Spear, while Vector, Charmy and Ray were knocked out old on the dock. All of them had their teeth grit in determination, but couldn't help but eye their fallen friends.

Infinite however looked at them with amusement, as if this were some sort of game to him. "So it seems that each and every one of the mistakes in your miserable lives has lead you here, to this very battle. You stand here, facing the brink of destruction. Ask yourselves, do you truly believe that your skills are enough to face Infinite power or will you fall like so many others have at my might?"

There was a beat of silence as the heroes contemplated his words. Some looking slightly discouraged. One could cut the tension with a knife if they chose to.

That was until Knuckles broke the silence. "I've heard enough of your crap. I'm putting an end to this right here, right now!"

Knuckles lunged towards Infinite with a raised fist and a battle cry.

"Then you shall be the first to fall…" Infinite snarled as both the eye covering and the gem on his chest began to glow harshly.

"Knuckles, wait!" Amy shouted.

A ball of spikes appeared around Infinite's body before they detached and flew towards the resistance leader.

Knuckles' eyes widened in fear at this only for a teal glow to appear around his body and quickly send him to the ground. This caused him to avoid Infinite's attack but also had him faceplant into the boardwalk.

He groaned as he peeled his face off the ground. He gave a shaky thumbs up. "Th-thanks…"

Silver let out a sigh of relief at this as his power faded.

But Infinite began to fly towards Knuckles with his fists clenched and the Phantom Ruby glowing harshly. "You're not getting away from me!"

"No!" Mighty and Espio shouted.

Both of them shot off towards him in an attempt to intercept him and keep him away from their leader. Mighty curled into a ball while Espio brandished one of his knives.

But Infinite was ready for them both, firing off lasers at them.

Both of them hit their mark and Espio instantly crumbled to the floor. But Mighty was easily able to tank it as the laser bounced off his shell, giving him just what he needed to home in on Infinite.

Mighty hit and hit hard, flinging the masked one back. "Wha-what?!" Infinite gasped as he skidded to a halt.

"I'm a tough nut to crack, buddy!" Mighty proclaimed as he uncured and proceeded to sock him right in the face. "Bad news for you, cuz when you mess with my friends I'm never gonna stop swinging."

Infinite let out a growl at this. "Very well, it seems that I'll have to employ other means to defeat you."

"Yeah, well don't forget about me!" Knuckles shouted as he jumped right at him and sent a massive punch his way.

This knocked Infinite away from them both to which Knuckles and Mighty gave each other a fist bump.

Infinite did his best to right himself in the air, but unfortunately not fast enough as a giant hammer struck him in the gut and set him skyward where Rouge was waiting for him and sent a kick into him that knocked him to the ground.

"That was for Sonic!" Amy shouted.

Infinite groaned at this, but rather than get up to his feet, he simply teleported away in a flash of red light.

"Where'd he go?!" Tangle shouted.

Knuckles shook his fist in the air. "Show yourself, coward!"

"The only cowards here are the ones who run and hide only to react to attacks." Infinite's voice came from seemingly nowhere.

They all looked around in fear at this as a purple fog began to spread all over the arena, the sound of distortion ringing out.

"But I choose to be the attacker."

At this rate, the fog had spread and had gotten so thick that they couldn't see one another.

Everyone tried to call out for their friends but to no avail.

Knuckles was all alone, looking for any sign of his teammates but to no avail.

And then, he saw it emerge from the shadows. The single piercing yellow eye shining through the fog.

He didn't even have time to react.

All his friends could hear was the sound of his scream as he went down with a heavy thump.

"Knuckles!" They cried out.

But that cry was shortly interrupted by the sound of distortion and the wail of the co-leader of the resistance as she too fell to his power.

"Amy!"

And then Mighty went down too, resulting in the same.

Silver stood there, heart pounding and emotions running high as he heard his friends go down thanks to Infinite's power. He didn't know what to do, everything was going wrong so fast and it was only a matter of time until he went down too.

With his eyes screwed tight, Silver's psychic energy poured off of him in erratic wispy waves. Slowly, he floated to the sky and finally let it all out.

" **Enough!"** Silver shouted as the psychic energy poured off of him in one quick burst of power that finally was able to blow away the fog.

Just in time too as it seemed Infinite was standing behind Rouge.

Infinite saw that his cover was blown and let out a swear, that instantly caught the spy's attention and had her turn on a dime and deliver a roundhouse to his head that promptly knocked him to the floor.

Tangle took the opportunity to spring into action, literally. Using her tail as a spring, she was able to fling herself into the air and towards where Infinite lie. "I got him!"

But Infinite simply teleported away.

"I don't got him!" She shouted as she wrapped her hands around thin air.

Everyone was on guard at that moment, Silver especially with his hands alight and ready to blow away any smoke away in a moment's notice.

It was no wonder that he was attacked next.

Infinite appeared behind him, to which Tangle cried out. "Silver, look out!"

She used her tail as a spring again in an attempt to get to him, but it wasn't fast enough.

Silver hadn't even had the chance to completely turn around when Infinite shot a laser into his side, sending him flying across the board walk, unconscious before he even landed.

Infinite didn't even bat an eye when Tangle came racing towards where he stood, simply catching her in his own telekinetic grasp before sending her careening across the battlefield.

She screamed only to be caught by something large and soft. She was confused by this only to see that she was in the arms of Big the Cat.

"I got you, friend!" He smiled at her.

Tangle returned the gesture as he set her down. "Thanks, big guy!"

With that, Rouge came swooping down to the both of them, looking a bit wide eyed and panicked. "This isn't good at all!"

Tangle threw her arms up in the air. "No kidding! We're dropping like flies and this guy looks like he's barely broken a sweat! What do we do?!"

Big looked between the two and caught a glance at Infinite. And he did not like what he saw. "Uh… guys?"

"I don't know! I was hoping you had an idea!"

"Guys…?"

"You're the secret government spy with tactical training for these situations!"

"Guys!"

"WHAT?!" Both of them shouted.

Big pointed at Infinite, who was laughing as a large amount of energy pulsed around the Phantom Ruby.

"Oh Chaos." Tangle gulped as Infinite unleashed the energy in a deadly pulse that knocked all of them off their feet and into unconsciousness.

With that, Infinite took in the world's so called heroes, each passed out on the floor around him.

"All too easy." He remarked, as he dusted off his hands. **[M4 End]**

 **~Trials of War~**

Things were not going well for Beta Squad and their evacuation procedures.

All of them laid pressed on the ground, as the lasers from multiple robots whizzed overhead.

"Anybody have any bright ideas?!" Fierro yelled.

Corvin laughed. "Well…"

"Ones that don't involve us all getting fried!" Gadget quickly cut in.

"Never mind." Corvin replied.

"You tried." Rhythm mused.

Teanchai growled. "Urg… you and your resistance… This is exactly what I was afraid of. Now we're all going to die and it's all of your faults."

"Sir, please… We're trying to think of a plan to get us out of here!" Fierro snapped.

"No. I have been silent on the matter for too long and clearly, my silence has led to this!"

The two continued to argue with the occasional input from Beta Squad or one of the villagers which annoyed Celeste to no end as she tried to think of a way to get them out of that mess.

The Eggpongs were firing at them and keeping them down. There was no way she could afford to stand up without getting her tail blasted off. No… she had to think of something else.

She then saw how the bots were set up, each of them in rows upon rows in front of the waiting ship.

If there was just a way for her to maybe get at least one to be destroyed that might cause a chain of some kind…

And that was when she looked to the Wispon at her side and grinned.

Careful, to not get anyone hurt by her weapon, she turned it on. With a quick flick of the wrist she swung the electric whip out towards the feet of the closest robot and swung.

The whip met it's mark and the robot's feet shattered underneath it causing it to fall back and into another one of the robots and that one fell into another one and another and so on and so forth.

All of the robots that didn't get effected were confused by this and even the people arguing were left to stare too.

But that was all Celeste needed as she sprung into action and began to fight the robots.

Everyone was dumbfounded at the sight for a moment, but it was Fierro who snapped out of it first.

"Villagers, you guys stay down! Beta Squad, up and at 'em!"

Fierro jumped at the robots with a mighty roar, sending a flurry of punches and kicks and the like at the robots sending parts flying.

Corvin was quick to hop on his gear and begin flying around at the robots.

Rhythm couldn't help but smirk as she jumped up and got her hammer primed and ready.

Gadget on the other hand, stayed down. "You know what guys, I think I'm gonna stay down here. I've had enough excitement for one day and-"

He was cut off as Corvin swung by and placed him on the end on his gear. "Nope, you're coming with us, buddy."

"Did I ever tell you how much I hate you sometimes?" Gadget asked.

"Usually comes up when I drag you into battles."

"I wonder why…" The wolf deadpanned.

"Haha, you hate fighting shut up and fire." The bird told him.

To which he did, screaming all the way through.

In no time flat, Celeste and the Betas were able to get them all down.

Fierro then called out to the villagers. "Everybody on the ship now!"

Without much hesitation, the villagers got up and rushed onto the vehicle along with Celeste and the Betas.

With the hangar doors open, they began to make their ascent to which the Betas let out a sigh of relief.

"All right, we did it. Most of the villagers are safe." Fierro sighed.

Celeste nodded. "Yeah, we got out and everyone's oka-"

And then they saw it. Infinite down on the battlefield letting out his blast that knocked the remainder of the resistance fighters down.

"NO!" They all shouted.

"We have to go down and do something!" Corvin shouted.

"Absolutely not!" Fierro snapped. "We have our mission and it's to get these villagers to safety."

"But they're all alone down there with Infinite!" Eleste ried.

Rhythm nodded. "Kid's right, we have to go down there."

"But it's Infinite!" Gadget whimpered. "We'd just be as badly beaten as the rest of them."

"Exactly why we're not going down there." Fierro stated.

The three tried to resist. "Bu-"

"No! That's an order!"

"Close the doors, now!" Fierro immediately barked at the pilot.

The three that wanted to fight looked down with slumped shoulders while Gadget all gave them a sympathetic glance.

Celeste grit her teeth in frustration. She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared for her friends. Scared that Infinite, being all alone with them down there he'd do something terrible. She couldn't bear the thought if something happened to any of them. Especially when she could've done something.

She remembered the words of a purple cat. That it didn't matter if she was scared as long as she could fight and see her friends at the end of it.

And she wanted to see her friends at the end of it, even if that meant fighting a battle she knew she couldn't win.

And like that, she was off like a shot, diving out of the aircraft just before the doors closed.

"Celeste!" They all cried.

But the cries fell on deaf ears as she skydived towards Infinite, her Wispon alight and aimed for a lone masked figure.

 **~Trials of War~**

 **[M3]** Sonic got up from where he landed and immediately propelled himself towards Shadow, his fist extended and prepared to punch him back.

Shadow simply scoffed at him before delivering a roundhouse to his cheek that put him face first into the ground again. "We've done this dance many times before."

Sonic got up from the ground again and couldn't help but smirk. "Yeah and how does that always end up?"

That clearly struck a nerve with Shadow as he let out a sharp growl, ground his teeth together and chucked a Chaos spear at his adversary.

But Sonic was already gone.

Having gone into a spindash, he rocketed towards Shadow, with enough force to send him stumbling back towards the pit in the ground.

Sonic saw this and let out a gasp. "Shadow!"

But the hedgehog found his footing and used the Hedgehog's surprise to race back towards him. Punching him in the face yet again.

"Never let your guard down!" Shadow stated before delivering another kick to Sonic's gut that made him fall onto his back.

"Now that you're down, I'm taking my leave. I told you I wanted to be left alone and that's that. Chaos Con-"

And he was cut off as a burst of flame exploded at his feet and sent him flying towards the pit again.

But he didn't fall, having dug his hands and feet into the ground and skidding to a halt mere inches away from it. Shadow got up and glared around. "Who did that?!"

He walked around for a moment only for a ball of spines to come hurtling towards him and send him falling back again.

"Never let your guard down!" Sonic snarked right back at him.

With that, Sonic went boosting at him to which Shadow steeled himself, ready to take him head on.

With a grunt, Shadow was able to intercept Sonic and keep him from sending him flying. Shoes dug into the ground as they slightly slid back, but soon the aura disappeared and Sonic was glaring at him.

"Tell me now, Shadow!"

"Absolutely not! Chaos spear!"

Sonic's eyes widened as the spear erupted from the tuft of fur on his chest, knocking him towards the ground.

Sonic landed and immediately rolled out of the way and just in time too as Shadow's fist dug into the ground right where he was.

He used this opportunity, to get into a ball and spindash towards him.

"You're gonna tell me now before I knock it out of 'ya."

"Heh, you'll try."

Sonic boosted towards him again, but Shadow simply disappeared in a flash of light.

Sonic didn't even have time to react when a hover shoe slammed into his face and sent him hurtling towards a tree. But he instinctively curled into a ball and bounced off of it.

This was something Shadow didn't see coming as his eyes widened in surprise.

Sonic hit him square in the chest and sent him careening towards the pit again. This time, he didn't stop though. Shadow's own eyes widened in fear as he didn't find any land for his feet to grab hold of. **[M3 End]**

"Shadow!" Sonic shouted.

He was off like a shot, racing towards his rival. Not daring to let him fall over the edge.

Shadow screwed his eyes shut, not wanting to see what would happen next.

But he was caught off guard when he felt something wrapping around his hand.

He opened his eyes to see a grimy, battle damaged hedgehog whose royal blue quills just barely stood out over the multiple scrapes and dirt that coated his body. But despite being so dinged up, his eyes shone as bright as the radiant master emerald itself.

"I got 'ya, bud!" Sonic shouted. "I-I'm never letting go!"

"S-Sonic…" Shadow gasped. "Wh-why…?"

"Because when it comes to my friends, I'm always gonna be there when they fall. And no matter what you do, you're always gonna be my friend, Shadow! You got that?"

Shadow let out a light chuckle at that. _This stubborn fool, always trying to play the hero._

"Now… please, Shadow… Tell me what's wrong."

"I- I-" Shadow bit his tongue. He couldn't really tell him. It was something that nobody in the world would understand. Not when they weren't quite like him. But once again, he looked into his eyes again. Determined and comforting, showing that he wanted nothing more than the best for everyone. And that's how he found himself talking. "Listen, Sonic… There are some things that you wouldn't begin to understand."

"Well, I'm listening."

Shadow breathed deeply. This was it, this was the moment where he was finally going to tell someone why. "Sonic, Infinite isn't like you… he's not like anyone else… Infinite is-"

But he didn't get to finish his sentence as a thin blue laser shot from the trees and into Shadow's chest. This was enough to let him go of Sonic and fall to his doom.

"Shadow, no!" Sonic cried out as he kneeled along the edge of the pit.

But this time, Shadow was prepared. "Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted as he produced twin beams of energy that appeared in his hands and gave him the force he needed to propel himself into the air and to safety.

Sonic let out a sigh of relief at this and turned to face Shadow. But the hedgehog wasn't looking at him.

"Sonic… I'm sorry, there are some things that I need to face alone." Shadow simply stated. "You better get back to your friends, if Infinite had his way then they're going to need someone to drag them back home."

"Shadow, they're your friends too. Let's go back together."

"Not yet." Shadow shook his head.

He looked at Sonic and saw his frown. Hoping to cheer him up, he gave one last thing to him. Something he knew he'd get in a lot of trouble for if Eggman found out he said it.

"One more thing… I-I don't know where he is or what he's doing, but the Doctor has started talking about Tails. Something about him being a problem these days. He's alive, Sonic."

Sonic's eyes widened at that. "Really?!"

He nodded. Without another word, he turned away and pulled out his Chaos Emerald. "Chaos control!"

And in a flash of light, he was gone.

Sonic stood there for a few moments, trying to figure out the events that transpired and how his brother really was out there somewhere, still fighting.

Sonic swore to himself that one day, he'd find him. But for now, he needed to get back to what was left of the village.

 **~Trials of War~**

"Infinite!" Celeste yelled as she fell towards him.

The jackal looked up at the source of the sound only for his face to get lashed with an electric whip.

Infinite was flung backwards at this and Celeste stood proud and tall where he once was.

"What is the meaning of this?" Infinite asked as he rose to his feet.

"The- the meaning of this is that you- you took down my friends and I'm not letting you lay another one of your claws on them!"

Infinite looked around at the fallen fighters before him. ''Ah yes, the rabble… And I suppose you're just another one of their inept cannon fodder, here to fight and die as many have before you?"

Celeste shrunk a little at that, but tried her best. "I- I'm not afraid of you! I fought you before! And you know what? We beat you!"

"I have never seen you before in my life, but if it's recognition you require then please… Show me what you're made of."

The sound of distortion let out and Celeste yelped as he disappeared in a flash of light.

Infinite instantly reappeared next to her and sent a roundhouse to her side that knocked her away.

But that seemed not to be enough as he fired a laser at her that sent her rolling roughly along the ground.

Celeste let out a cry at this and Infinite took that as an invitation to continue his assault. He flew towards her and began to pummel her at high speeds before proceeding to let out a flurry of punches and kicks that devastated the poor dog in a matter of seconds.

She fell to the ground yet again and this time, Infinite didn't bother to look back. She wasn't going to get up from his onslaught.

Despite everything, Celeste was still conscious, albeit barely. Her body ached all over, tears streamed down her face and she wanted nothing more than to just drift into a soundless sleep.

But she remembered why she was fighting. And tried desperately to get up from the ground as she ignited her Wispon.

Infinite heard the sound and turned to her, seeing the battered and bruised girl still try to crawl towards him with her weapon.

Infinite couldn't help but chuckle as he walked towards her. "Really now? After all of that, you're still trying to fight?"

She struggled, lifting the weapon towards him.

"I must admit, I find it admirable. Foolish. But admirable indeed." Infinite remarked. "I will remember you and well, I hope they do too."

"You- you're not going t-to win…"

Infinite shook his head and gestured to the burning piles of wood and the bodies of downed fighters both world renowned and unknown unconscious or worse. "I already have, girl. But it's rather amusing to think that somehow you alone can stop me."

He now stood over her and was easily able to snatch her Wispon from her hands. "And with nothing more than a toy? How pathetic."

With trembling hands, she tried to reach for the Wispon but didn't even come close.

Infinite looked at the weapon for a few moments, inspecting the weapon with interest. In all her pain and struggle to even keep consciousness Celeste looked on at this in confusion and wonder.

And then in one swift motion, Infinite crushed it with his bare hands.

Celeste's eyes widened as she watched the burst of electrical energy surge through his body as the pieces of now faded yellow glass and metal fell to the ground before being crushed underneath Infinite's pointed boot.

Her beloved lightning Wispon, her first line of defence against the empire, the one thing that truly helped her make a difference in the world was broken before her very eyes as if it was absolutely nothing.

The tears came again, streaming down her face and making an even greater mess of her fur. But she couldn't bring herself to scream, not with her already being so weak. "N-no…"

Infinite lifted her up by the chin with one of his hands and prepared a bright laser that only seemed to glare even brighter in her vision through her tears. "This is where you say goodbye…"

Celeste didn't even see what happened net, her body just gave in and she finally passed out. Whether it be from the fear or the pain, she didn't know but she was gone.

Infinite didn't notice or are as he was ready to fire or at least would've if he didn't get a punch to the face with such speed and force that it sent him straight into the water.

He spluttered as he rose to the surface. "Wha-what?!"

Sonic stood on the dock seething with anger. "Don't you dare touch her or any of my friends ever again, you bedazzled creep!"

Infinite rose out of the water. "Ah, so you've finally decided to join us, Sonic. Did you have a nice jog with Shadow?"

Sonic didn't answer, but instead tried to home in on him, only for Infinite to throw up a wall of cubes to block him.

"Heh, I'll take that as a yes. While I would love to stay and dance with you, I believe I should be taking my leave. Take this failure today as a lesson, there is no defeating the Eggman Empire."

And with that, he teleported out of there.

Sonic turned back to it all seeing all the destruction left behind by the events that just transpired.

He sighed.

Time to pick up the pieces.

 **~Trials of War~**

A few moments after Sonic left the former Temple of Gaia, something moved in the trees. This something revealed itself to be a cream colored wolf with her hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a mostly grey outfit complete with combat boots, a shawl around her shoulders and an odd mask resting lazily on the side of her forehead. Along with all of that, she had a rather odd looking Wispon with four wisps accompanying her: Laser, Burst, Spike and Cube.

Wolf and Wisp alike looked down with their brows furrowed. They looked at one another and gave each other curt nods before hopping off into the treeline.

 **[M1] Theme of Tikal  
[M2] Battle With Infinite First Bout  
[M3] Sonic Adventure 2- For True Story (although, the 06, Generations or even fanmade Forces remixes are cool too)  
[M4] Battle With Infinite Second Bout**

 **[1] The chapter was originally going to open on the scene with Knuckles and Tikal and was the first scene I wrote for this chapter, but I eventually decided to go with the Infinite scene first both because I think it fit more for the chapter's events.  
[2] Invisibility wasn't an originally planned power for Infinite, but recent events allowed me to include it.  
[3] Yes, I purposefully had Sonic and Shadow fight in space than the jungle for this fic as a call back. And this line is definitely a shot at Sega for nostalgia pandering. Give us something new please.**

 **Now before you kill me, I have a final AN and some review replies to do.  
So additional stuff to know is that this chapter switched names like seven times. Originally it was called No Safe Haven which yes… is a RWBY reference. But then I changed it to Step in the Ring. Then I realized hey… No Safe Haven actually works… but also Step in the Ring. And finally, I decided to go with the Infinite theme reference.  
As for Tangle, she's someone who I was debating on including her and the other IDW character in this story for a long while. I was eventually inspired by The Sensational SpiderDom321's fics and his portrayal of her to go ahead and do it. You should check out his stories, they're great.  
Also, I feel like my Endgame hype came out in this one since I feel like a lot of Infinite's lines are Thanos-y.  
As for Celeste's Wispon? I planned for her to switch weapons at one point, but that was gonna be closer to the end. But I decided this would be a good spot. But hey, you can vote on which Wispon you want Celeste to have in the future either in your review or in the poll on my profile. Options are: Asteroid, Hover, Laser, Quake, Bomb or just a new Lightning Wispon.  
Anywho onto review replies.**

 **Alexandria Prime:  
Ah, the reunion. The reunion between Sonic and Tails. The reunion between Modern Sonic and Tails. The reunion. Yes… It's still gonna be quite a bit till the reunion. But we are slowly getting closer. Not as close as I'm sure you'd like but closer.**

 **KelWelPower:  
I'm really glad that you're enjoying the Classic Trio chapters, that's something that I've been working really hard on. As I've said before, it was a great idea to pair Classic Sonic and Tails together but they failed to deliver it. I'm really sorry you had to wait so long and I really hope that this chapter is able to make up for the long wait. And you're definitely on to something with the parallels between the two groups.**

 **TheGameNguyener:  
I'm glad you liked it as much as you did. Tails was definitely someone to work on and I'm excited for where I'm taking him next.  
If you were scared about Classic Sonic there, I am so sorry about this chapter hahahahaha.  
Thank you so much for the support.**

 **The Sensational SpiderDom321:  
I'm glad you loved it, man.  
Yeah, it was a Disney Star Wars joke. Needed a bit of an anecdote to move on to the next scene and decided, "Hey Star Wars is hot right now." I liked both movies, but yeah… Last Jedi could be better.  
Yep. When I got more in depth on this chapter, Commander Tower and eventually the President were the right course of action moving forward and I'm glad to see that it paid off.  
As for the Chaos Fight, that was something I was waiting a while for and knew I wanted to do from the beginning of the story. I'm glad it paid off and since I'm not a game, I can also make it where it doesn't have to be Sonic who wins the fight so it just worked out, y'know? I'm happy it came out well.  
Thanks for the support. The ordeal was tough, but I am feeling a lot better having finally come out of it. It was a wild ride.  
Thank you so much.**

 **Infinite's Ruby:  
Glad you enjoyed it. Tails and how he was perceived in Station Square was something I've been waiting to share for a while, so I'm glad people have been really liking that.  
I'm really glad that you think it's one of the best, thank you. And I'm sure you're gonna love the end of this story whenever it may come.  
Thanks for the support.**

 **Flash:  
The Lyoko Gem? Well of course I know him, he's me.  
Bad Star Wars references aside, I am the Lyoko Gem and this is the same Forces rewrite detailed in the video but also not. Originally, I was just gonna make a video but this story really spoke to me and I decided to write it. The video is a very basic outline for this story, but the fic is far more in depth and honestly is a lot more different than the video is. This is so much better and I'm proud of it.  
For those of you who are reading this, you are welcome to watch the video but I don't recommend it. It's kinda cheating this story and I feel like you'd have more fun with the surprises. Especially since I feel it would be better to go with this rather than me simply telling you what's going to happen. But if you do, one don't spoil anything going forward in reviews or anything like that. But since it's been brought up, it'd be really cool if some of you checked out my YouTube channel: Lyoko Gem. I make Sonic content amongst other things and even have a Sonic video coming this weekend.  
Oh and as for the Eggpong thing, truthfully, it happened because I thought during my Forces theory days, that someone said the Forces ones were called Eggpongs. And the name kinda stuck, even after I learned otherwise. Canonical reason here which I'm planning to bring up at some point or another, idk when is that that specific model is called Eggpongs. And it'll come eventually. **

**Zoogerific:  
Yeah, first chapter is really bad. And honestly? My first chapters are usually awful. I need to go back and redo it. Thank you.**

 **Guest:  
You can probably figure out now, but you're not really supposed to understand where Chaos comes from yet.**

 **Animation Adventures:  
Well thank you, I'm glad that mine stood out to you.  
Cream was a must for this fic. She still hasn't had her big moment, but she will.  
That's fair, I appreciate your honesty on the OCs. I mostly included OCs because they were an integral part of what made Forces Forces and I didn't want to change that. The same can be said of Classic Sonic.  
Characters are a big part of this story and I'm happy to say that there are still plenty more to come. As for Big and why he didn't mention Amy and Cream… that was a blunder on my part, not gonna lie. Glad Mighty and Ray surprised you too.  
Thanks so much for the support.**

 **Guest:  
Big was fishing in the Mystic Jungle/Ruins.**

 **Guest:  
I actually have my own lore and theories about the Deadly Six, but I don't think I'm going to integrate them into this story due to it not really having a place here. Gotta keep from narrative clutter, y'know?**

 **Guest:  
Shadow and Rouge will definitely have a heartfelt reunion. Team Dark will be together again, we just gotta wait it out.**

 **Guest:  
Tone is one of the most important things in this story. Honestly, not gonna lie I'm a little worried I'm pushing it with this chapter.**

 **Guest:  
Good question about Silver. Thing is, I have a backstory planned for him. Heck, there are even hints towards said backstory in this chapter. I just have no idea where to put it. So… worse case, it'll be a oneshot released at a random point, best case: Episode Silver will be a thing within the story. Hoping the latter more than the former.**

 **Guest:  
I'm fully aware of the torture and stand by my decision to include the Metal Sonic scene. **

**SharpDragonKlaw and other guests:  
Thank you all so much for your support.**

 **Guest:  
Who will be the final boss, Eggman or Infinite? Ah, that's an excellent question. You see-**

 **That'll do for this chapter. Thanks so much everyone, for the continued love and support. I appreciate it. Be sure to vote on what you want Celeste's new Wispon should be and remember to read and review. I'm starting the next chapter right now, so be ready for Super Casino Bros next time.  
R&R**


	16. Chapter 15: Pressing On

**First and foremost, this story is getting a bit too much to keep up with on top of everything else I've got going on in my life, so for the time being, I'm changing monthly updates to bi-monthly. I'm sorry everyone but I just keep trying and it just doesn't work. Now, I'm still gonna try and shoot to get a chapter down every month, but my worst case is going to be two. It certainly does lengthen how long this fic will be running for, but with how my life is going at the moment, I don't have another option.**

 **So you may be wondering why this chapter is not Super Casino Bros or even a Classic chapter for that matter. Well, you see it was all part of my elaborate plan to trick all of you and- okay, nah. I made some changes and I'll explain why in the end of chapter A/N. For now, let's just have some fun with the Modern side of things with this new chapter.**

 **Oh and one more thing before we start but it's almost Sonic's birthday. Consider this my early 28** **th** **birthday present to him. Happy birthday big blue, keep goin' fast, collecting rings and all of that jazz.**

 **Trials of War:  
Chapter 15-  
Pressing On**

For Celeste, the last thing she saw was Infinite's face and then… there was nothing but the pitch black abyss.

At least, that was it for a few minutes.

But soon, she found bright lights piercing through the black, drawing her from her slumber and back into reality.

Granted, it took a few moments but soon white lights filled out, becoming a white expanse. Her vision blinking into and out of existence as her eyes fluttered open and close before finally, she was awake.

Although she wished that she was still asleep since her body ached all over and her head pounded like a hurricane against an unsuspecting populace.

Celeste couldn't help but let out a loud groan as she drew in her surroundings. White ceilings with bright lights raining down on her, medical supplies all over and a certain nurse gave her the indication that she was back in the infirmary. And feeling the hospital bed underneath her pretty much confirmed her suspicions making her groan even more.

She lost to Infinite and of course, that wound her right back where she was the last time she fought him. Granted, it was a fight she didn't expect to win but she didn't want to be hospitalized again because of it.

All that groaning got the attention of the aforementioned nurse and she looked to see Celeste with her eyes open and groaning both in pain and annoyance.

Cream smiled and was immediately at her side. "Oh thank goodness you're awake. We were all so worried about you, Ms. Celeste."

Cheese perked up his head and agreed. "Chao, chao!"

Celeste groaned again, turning her head towards the rabbit girl and her Chao. Both of them gave her warm smiles as Cream began preparing a wet washcloth for her.

While she waited, Celeste attempted to get into a sitting position, only for more of that throbbing pain to ring out throughout her body, causing her to let out a hiss of pain.

At that, Cream had finished and quickly had her sit down. "No, don't get up. Mama told me that you need all your rest if you want to regain your full strength."

Celeste weakly nodded. "Wh-wh-where is she?" Her voice came out hoarse, a shadow of its former self. Celeste furrowed her brow at this, annoyed that through everything that even talking hurt her. Infinite had really done that much of a number on her? This was ridiculous.

"She's sleeping. It's very late right now and with how busy things have been here for the past week since the fight at Adabat, I told Mama that I could watch over you tonight and that she should get some rest."

"Chao Chao!" Cheese added.

Celeste hummed and slowly nodded at that, her eyes beginning to flutter shut as she drifted back off into sleep.

Or at least she would've if her eyes didn't shoot open. She tried to get up only to for a wall of pain to rush over her body, forcing her back into her bed.

"D-did you s-say a week?" She stuttered.

Cream nodded. "Yes, Ms. Celeste. When they brought you in after everything had happened, we were very worried about you. No one was sure whether you were going to make it or not, but Mama made sure you pulled through. I don't know how, but she saved you."

"I-I'll have to thank her in the morning."

"I know she will love that, but for now… you need to get your rest, Ms. Celeste."

She nodded. "R-right…"

"Sleep tight and, Ms… thank you for looking after my friends that night. They didn't tell me everything that happened, but I know that you stood up to Infinite when no one else would. Thank you."

Celeste smiled at that and shortly drifted off to sleep.

 **~Trials of War~**

Knuckles the Echidna sat in the central command room with a cup of coffee in his hands, Amy with some tea.

The co-leaders of the resistance sat in silence as they enjoyed their drinks, Knuckles hammering in on the coffee in an attempt to wake himself up after a late night of working on resistance stuff while Amy calmly stirred her tea.

Having quickly downed another cup before reaching over for yet another cup of coffee.

Amy raised an eyeridge at this. "You know, that's your sixth cup, Knuckles?"

"And?"

"Too much of that can be bad for you, y'know?"

"Well, after spending most of the night forming our next battle plan, I kinda need to wake myself up. Planning an attack on Metropolis isn't something you do easily."

"I know," Amy tutted. "I was there. Who else spent most of the night arguing with you about how to get past their defenses?"

"Heh, then you should know how tired I am. How are you so awake this morning, we both only got like two hours of sleep."

Amy chuckled and shook her head. "Silly Knuckles, when you keep up with a man who is able to go to a different country at a moment's notice just because he feels like it, you tend to be up at odd hours."

"Still, you haven't really chased Sonic around like that since you were like thirteen." Knuckles added.

She hummed. "Hm, true. But the powers of sleep deprivation never leave you."

Knuckles grumbled at this and took another swig of coffee to which the hedgehog happily smiled at him.

"Oh quit your bellyaching, Knuckles. Don't forget, we have a very important call to make."

"Yeah, yeah… I know, just give me two more cups and we can get right to it."

And with that, Amy began typing on her computer while Knuckles downed another two cups of coffee.

He arrived at her side just in time as the call connected and staring before them was the face of a young human woman whose sky blue eyes and soft features were surrounded by long, flowing reddish brown hair. She wore a brown dress, with white accents, giving off the appearance of an eagle along with a single red jewel on her collar. Putting the look together was a rather extravagant tiara complete with gems of all sorts of different colors. She gave off a warm smile as she looked at the two.

Both Amy and Knuckles bowed when they saw her. "Queen of Soleanna, thank you for agreeing to meet with us during such trying times."

"Please, no need for any of that." The queen shook her head. "Just Elise will be fine."

Both Amy and Knuckles rose at that to look at the queen of Soleanna once again. "Now, it's not every day that both leaders of the resistance and the guardian of the Master Emerald reach out to you. So what is it that you want with me or my kingdom?"

Knuckles and Amy looked at one another and sighed.

"We know you're not really going to like what we have to say…" Amy started.

Knuckles put a hand on her shoulder and looked towards the webcam with eyes set in determination. "But we wouldn't be coming to you for help, if we didn't need it."

Amy felt the strength and comfort of her long time friend and stood a little taller as well, looking on with her own determination.

Elise looked at the two of them, surprised to see their determination. But couldn't help but smile in respect for that.

"Very well, state your purpose."

"As I am sure, you are very well aware of the devastation to Adabat just last week?" Knuckles asked.

Elise nodded. "Yes, Emperor Eggman made very sure to make sure that it was your fault that it happened."

"As he always does." Amy sighed.

"He certainly doesn't make fighting for the freedom of the world any easier." Knuckles added.

"I can imagine. We all know that the Eggman Empire only produces what puts them in a good light. Very unbefitting of a ruler, but what should we expect from those who take power for themselves?"

The two nodded in agreement.

"Eggman ruined these people's lives with what he did that day. They were just trying to live away from the empire, the war and all the fighting but when he found them… well, that village has been practically wiped off the map now." Knuckles frowned.

"And that's why we've come to you for help."

Elise pursed her lips at this. "I see…"

"People lost their homes that day, some their lives but none of them asked for the war to come to them. And now several refugees are left to fend for themselves in our secret base that puts them in further danger than they deserve." Amy explained.

"It's not a fight that they asked for, and that's why we've come to you. Adabat used to be our personal safe haven against the Eggman Empire, but now we have nothing and people suffer for it."

"You want to bring your refugees to Soleanna."

Amy and Knuckles slowly nodded. "Yes, your majesty."

Elise let out a sigh. "I do understand your plight and I have the utmost sympathy for the victims of the attack on Adabat. But Soleanna's borders have been closed for months now. I made it clear when we severed our alliance and pulled out of the conflict after the loss of Holoska."

Knuckles clenched his fist and grit his teeth in frustration. She really didn't have to remind them of their previous failures.

But Amy didn't miss a beat and continued where Knuckles didn't. "And we are very well aware and still respect your decision, your majesty. But we are not asking you to rejoin the fight, we are simply asking you to open your borders just for a brief moment to allow a few poor souls a home until things can be set right."

Queen Elise shook her head. "Doing that would not only put my country in danger to be swarmed by Eggman Empire forces, but it would present a major political factor of Soleanna potentially realigning itself with the resistance. Something I worked very hard to make clear."

Knuckles furrowed his brow in anger at her. "Yeah, well while you guys keep to yourselves and continue hidi-"

Amy slammed her foot onto Knuckles foot, stopping him from going any further.

But it was clear that some damage had been done with the scowl left on the monarch's face, leaving Amy to try and diffuse the situation.

"Please, ignore him, your highness. We're running on very little sleep and coming off of a defeat, _The Guardian of the Master Emerald,_ normally knows better than this."

Elise glared at them to which Amy gave knuckles a harsh elbow to the chest. Begrudgingly, he grumbled. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Elise still had her lips pressed together and her gaze hardened, while Amy gave as cheeky of a smile as possible in hopes to impress the queen.

While still pensive, she relented and let the comment from Knuckles go. "Apology accepted."

Amy's shoulders sagged in relief at that.

"Still, the Kingdom of Soleanna will not be taking in your refugees." She shook her head. "I am sorry, while I do feel a great sorrow for the people of Adabat, I will not be opening my borders as I have my own people to tend to. This war is incredibly dangerous and as reigning monarch of Soleanna I cannot put my people in danger even if it means the safety of others."

Amy tensed again, and unfortunately that didn't give her time to shut up the sharp tongued echidna. "Listen, we wouldn't have come to you if we didn't have any other options, Elise! People lost their homes for Chaos' sake, but you'd much rather stay in your little protective force field and worry about your own rather than everybody else? I bet you don't even care about what happens to the world as long as your kingdom is safe!"

The reigning monarch of Soleanna didn't take kindly to that. As a young princess just a few years prior, she wouldn't have known what to say in response to such harsh words. But years of reigning over a kingdom after her father's demise had taught her strength that she never would've thought she'd have as a child. And she would not dare let anyone, even the Guardian of the Master Emerald question that strength.

"And what about you? You claim to have so much strength, but it was you and your friends that put the world in the dire state it is now. Legends of the Sonic Heroes, the defenders of this world lost and have been continuing to lose for what has been seven months now! People relied upon you to save the world from Eggman! And what happened? Cities, even entire countries have fallen and Eggman is Emperor of the world! Our greatest hero had fallen on international television! And you have the gall to accuse me of being a coward when I'm only doing what is right for my kingdom? Please!"

"And we made some mistakes, but you know what? We've been taking the world back! Maybe if you actually paid attention, then you'd know that Sonic is alive and we've been doing our best to take this world back to the way it's supposed to be. Some of us don't run and hide when things get tough, we dust ourselves off and keep fighting the fight because that's what anyone would do. It's the responsibility we have not only to our planet, but to Chaos himself to try our hardest to make this planet a better place and I intend to keep doing so!"

Elise snorted. "You speak of responsibilities to Chaos, but you ignore what he has been doing? You absolutely have my utmost respect as The Guardian of the Master Emerald, but that's just it. You protect a lifeless rock."

Knuckles was taken aback by this and even Amy who had been trying to keep her composure frowned as well.

"I protect a people. A people who I strive to do the very best for no matter what and if that means watching the world go down in flames to keep them safe, then I will do just that. But the barriers that protect Soleanna are strong and will not fall to the likes of the Empire and certainly won't go down for the likes of a resistance that continues to fail every day. You're confident in your efforts? Put these people in Sunset Heights, but Soleanna will not ally itself with the resistance."

This time, it was Amy who bit back. "I don't appreciate the tone you're taking with my friend here, _**Lizzy!**_ **"**

Both Knuckles and the queen were taken aback at this.

"You think that Knuckles job is easy? The amount of strength it takes when it comes to guarding the Master Emerald takes far more than that of running a country! You think that sitting around in a cushy castle all day having servants wait on you hand and foot is the same as being the lone guardian of the most powerful object in the world? Don't make me laugh, Knuckles has more strength in a single one of his spines than you do in that castle of yours!"

Elise bit her lip at this, she hadn't expected that. "I didn't mean-"

"Oh yes you did." Amy retorted. "And I really don't appreciate the tone that you've taken in regards to my friends. We are making a difference in this world regardless of what you or anyone else may think and not for your approval, we do this because it's the right thing to do. So if you decide that you want the world to burn while your people are safe, then fine. But we will continue to fight and do what's right."

Elise tried to say something but the words fell flat.

"While I may not be happy with you, our request still stands and maybe you might want to think about what the right thing really means to you. Now please, have a good day your majesty. The co-leaders of the resistance are signing off."

Elise tried to get another word in only for Amy to disconnect the call.

Knuckles looked at her surprised. "Wow, Amy. I didn't know you had it in you."

"Don't mention it. I may have made things worse for us than you did."

Knuckles put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe, but I takes guts to stand up for me and the resistance like that to someone like her."

Amy smiled at that. "Thank you Knuckles."

Knuckles gave her a pat on the back and smiled. "Now come on, we've got an attack on Metropolis to plan." **[1]**

 **~Trials of War~**

"Master is this really necessary?" Infinite asked.

"Well, yes. Metal Sonic has been destroyed, Zavok has been exiled and Chaos still hasn't reported back to us since sending him off a few weeks ago. The only thing we can do at this point is look for someone who might be able to fill the void."

"Yes… I understand that, but you couldn't have thought of something a little less… _flashy?"_ Infinite gestured to the gigantic signs around the room each decorated with their own Eggman mustaches announcing _Eggman Empire General Auditions!_ and the like.

Eggman simply laughed. "Nonsense. This truly is a momentous occasion for all to see. I want everyone to know what they're here for."

"Shadow, do you have any complaints?" Infinite asked.

The hedgehog simply rolled his eyes. "I've dealt with the doctor's foolishness for years, this is nothing."

"That's the spirit, Shadow!" Eggman cheered as Infinite just sighed. "Now, is everyone ready?"

Both of the Mobians nodded to which the doctor smiled.

"Alright, Brenda, we're live in five, four, three, two-"

At four, the reporter looked up from where she was looking at both her and Carl's own shock collars and told Eggman exactly what she felt. "I hate you so much."

"O-one?!" He gasped.

Brenda then immediately smiled at the camera. "Good morning Eggman Empire, we are coming to you live from Sunny Metropolis, right here in the Good 'ol Emperor's office here for a very special event. That's right, everyone we are holding auditions to see who will be the next general of the Eggman Empire. It's been a long time, what with those terrible, terrible things that Sonic and that treacherous resistance has done to Metal and Zavok and who knows where poor Chaos could be. But not to worry, because we have auditions for who could be the next General!"

At that, audience applause could be heard from all over.

Brenda waited for it to stop and continued. "But how can we have a show without our judges? Let's go to the panel and see who we've got."

She made her way over to a table where the three were sitting. "First up, we've got the man himself, the fearless conqueror of the world who's gonna save us all, it's Emperor Eggman!"

Eggman grinned at the camera as more fake cheers played out. "Thank you, thank you. You're too kind."

Brenda then walked over to the next of them. "Now how about everybody's favorite hero, he's dark and dangerous and don't get on his bad side or you'll get a Chaos Spear to the face. Ladies and gentleman, give it up for Shadow the Hedgehog!"

Shadow simply crossed his arms and huffed as the crowd cheered for him.

"Oh come on, Shadow? No smile. You've gotta say something for your fans back home!"

She was met with a turn away to which the crowd showed their disapproval.

"Aw, don't worry guys. I'm sure one of the contenders will get him to smile." And that of course was met with cheers.

"And finally, we've got the man of mystery, the key to victory and the unstoppable force that is Infinite!"

Infinite was awkward as the cheers went by. "Uh- y-yes. Hello there uh… Brenda…"

Brenda laughed. "No need to be shy. We're all friends here, isn't that right audience?"

From there, the sound of more cheering came, which warmed up Infinite a little.

"Heh, thank you. I-I've just never done anything like this before."

"Who would've thought that the big bad Infinite has a little stage fright? Well, not to worry this'll be easy. In fact, lemme go into the rules of this little shindig. We'll be having our contestants come in and show their stuff to the judges. If they're good, they'll get their approval, but if they stink well each of the judges is equipped with a buzzer that'll give them a red x. Two or three red xs and they're out of here!"

Shadow brought a hand to his chin in thought. "Wait, that sounds familiar. Isn't that just like The-"

But Eggman was quick to cut in. "What?! No! Of course not, completely original idea straight from the Eggman Empire! Why thank you for asking!"

Shadow glared at him at that, but decided to drop it.

"Now that that's done. Why don't we get our first contestant in here."

In slithered a gigantic, anthropomorphic snake wearing some sort of strange mechanical suit with arms.

He opened his mouth to speak only for a loud buzz to go off.

The snake frowned and looked up to see that Shadow had already pushed his x.

"Wh-why?!" The snake asked.

"I'm sorry but just the mere sight of you disgusted me. You have no place in this world or this empire. How dare you disturb us with your presence?"

The laugh track played.

"I don't even know you!"

"And I don't care."

Eggman chuckled. "Alright, well it looks like Shadow's made up his mind. Why don't you tell us about yourself?"

The snake still glared at the hedgehog but nodded. "My name is Lyric and I am a man of many talentsssss."

"Really, now?" Infinite asked. "Like what?"

"Well, I can control masssshinesss… With the pressss of this button I can-"

Two more buzzes let out and the room went dark.

"What?!"

"Yeah, that's useless." Eggman stated. "I have control over an entire army of machines. Why in the world would I need you?"

"Exactly. We don't tolerate uselessness in the Eggman Empire. Out of our sight."

With the wave of his hand, Lyric disappeared in a glitchy haze of cubes.

"Looks like our first contender wasn't up to the task, but not to worry folks, we've got more to come in a bit right after a message from our sponsors!"

 **~Trials of War~**

"Is this her?"

"Yeah, I think it is."

"She doesn't look as tough as mom said."

"Yeah, I can't believe that this is the one that fought Infinite?"

Slowly, Celeste's eyes fluttered open and she was met face to face with two pairs of yellow eyes staring at her.

"Ah!" She yelped at that to which the owners of the two eyes jumped back with shouts of their own.

Celeste looked at the two and saw that they were two admittedly adorable cats, one a light fuchsia color and the other a darker red. Both of them looked to be no older than six years old.

"I- wha-" Celeste sputtered.

"Nice job, Sphinx you woke her up!" The fuchsia cat shouted, elbowing the fuchsia cat in his rib.

"Did not, Pharaoh! You were the one who was being loud!" The red cat, Sphinx, retorted.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Hey!" Celeste shouted, cutting in. The two kittens stopped and immediately shot their eyes towards her. "Uh… who are you kids?"

The two cats straightened up. The fuchsia one giving her a grin that radiated confidence. "I'm Pharaoh the Cat! Soon to be world famous adventurer and the world's next Sonic the Hedgehog! The dork over there is Sphinx!"

"Hey, I'm not a dork! And who says that you're gonna be the next Sonic, what if I wanna be the next Sonic!"

"Well, I'm the more athletic and good looking one. You're the smart one. You can be my Tails and build me stuff when I'm beating up bad guys."

"What if I wanna beat up guys?"

"Well how can you beat up bad guys when you can't even keep your nose?" With that, Pharaoh reached at Sphinx's face and acted as if he snatched something away from him. Making it appear as if he got his nose.

"Give back my nose, Pharaoh!" Sphinx shouted to which the cat laughed and began to chase after the cat only for him to disappear in a flash of light and reappear at different spots of the room.

This irritated Sphinx as he tried to catch him but to no avail. To her surprise, this eventually lead the child to passing out and in its place a sort of hazy version of him appeared out of his body and began to fly around, chasing the teleporting Pharaoh around the room.

Celeste could only watch with wide eyes as this went on. She knew of gifted Mobians blessed by Chaos with powers. Heck, if you lived anywhere with a decent population of Mobians you were bound to know at least a couple. But usually, most did not do much with their powers other than get them easily out of the most mundane tasks rather than become one of the Sonic heroes. Before the war, she had a classmate who could turn invisible and mostly used it to play practical jokes on her friends. But even with the powers, that did not account for whether or not they were Chaos Sensitive.

And with these two children blipping around the room like maniacs she didn't know what to do. She wasn't exactly the best with kids, but did what any other adult would do in the situation.

"Hey!" She shouted and once again the two stopped and looked at her.

"How about we stop doing uh… whatever this is and just sit and talk."

The boys nodded and quickly, Pharaoh teleported to the foot of Celeste's bed and Sphinx floated back into his body and joined him. Both sat cross legged and looked at her expectantly.

"Alright so…" Celeste started. "Where are your parents?"

Speak of the devil, the cries of a very familiar voice came from outside the room. "Boys! Boys! Sphinx! Pharaoh! Where are you?!"

At that the face of the leader of Beta Squad popped into the room and sighed in relief at the sight of the two young boys in the room.

"Oh, thank Chaos. There you two are!"

"Mom!" The two boys cheered as they hopped off the bed and scampered over to Fierro and gave her a great big hug.

Celeste had never seen her so happy, but the face she gave when she gave those two boys a smile proved that she definitely was their mother. And once they stopped, the cat immediately frowned. "What did I tell you two about running around the base? We're guests here and you can't go around making a mess out of everything."

"We just wanted to go exploring!" Pharaoh shouted.

Sphinx nodded. "Yeah, we never really leave our rooms!"

"Yeah, and Uncle Gadget is the worst at playing tag."

Fierro sighed. "What am I going to do with you two? Celeste, did they bother you? They didn't wake you did they? I'm so sorry."

Celeste was rather confused. "Uh… it's okay. No worries."

Fierro nodded. "Good. I'm glad to see that you're at least conscious now."

"Mom! Mom! This is Celeste?!" The two boys shouted.

Fierro nodded and chuckled. "That's right. She's the one I've been telling you both so much about."

The two boys were ecstatic at that to which Pharaoh instantly teleported to her bedside while Sphinx ran on over.

"Wow!"

"You're really her!"

"You're so cool!"

"I can't believe you fought Infinite!"

"And ran around with Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Is he as cool as he is on TV?!"

"Are his quills as spikey as a pin?!"

"What about his speed?!"

"Is he too fast for the naked eye?!"

The boys rambled off questions at a mile a minute to which Celeste tried to keep up with, but they eventually just gave her a headache. She clutched her head in pain, to which she brought a hand to her temple.

"Hey. That's enough, boys. Why don't we give Ms. Celeste some rest? She's not feeling too well and needs to build her strength."

Both boys pouted and at that, Gadget ran into the room.

"Fierro, I've been looking everywhere and I still haven't found the boys and-"

"Uncle Gadget!" The two cheered as they tackled the wolf, knocking him right off of his feet.

The two wrapped him in a warm embrace to which he laughed. "H-hey, I found them!"

The two kids laughed while Fierro smiled and shook her head. "Good job, Gadget. Now I need you to take them back to our quarters, I want to stay and talk to Celeste for a moment."

Gadget was surprised at that. "Celeste?"

He looked up at the bed to see the young girl wave at her. "You're awake! I'm so glad you're okay."

Celeste smiled at him. "Thanks, Gadget. It's good to see you too."

"You had us worried sick, I was afraid that Infinite might've done you in or worse. I-I'm just so glad that you're okay."

"I'm alright. Thanks for looking out for me."

"Of course."

"You two can talk later." Fierro said. "For now can you take them back?"

"Yeah. No problem, Fi." Gadget nodded. He then scooped up both boys in his arms. "Come on kiddos, let's go."

"Bye, mom! Bye, Ms. Celeste!" The two children called out.

The two waved at them and with that, the two were out of the room.

At that, the two fell into silence not really sure what to say to each other.

Celeste decided to break the ice first. "So… you have kids?"

Fierro nodded. "Yep. My two little bundles of joy. A bit of a handful but they're the most precious thing in the world to me."

"How old are they?"

"Both are six. Twins actually."

Celeste hummed at that, not really sure what to say.

Fierro caught wind of this and decided to explain herself. "Had them when I was around 19, was with someone who I thought was great but turned out to be a dirt bag who couldn't look after them. So, it's been me and my boys versus the world for a long time."

Celeste slowly nodded.

"You'll understand a bit more when you're older." Fierro explained. "You're still young and got a lot of life ahead of you."

Celeste nodded again. "Right. Well, they're really cute, they have your eyes."

"Thank you." Fierro smiled.

And at that, the two fell into silence again before Fierro broke the silence this time. "Celeste, what you did that night was incredibly stupid. Not only was it a direct violation of orders from one of your superiors but you also put yourself in an extraordinary amount of danger."

"I know."

"No, you don't. Celeste, you got yourself seriously hurt going up against him all by yourself. You've been out of commission for a week. And for what? To prove yourself? To try and defeat him? You're lucky that Sonic came in when he did, it could've been a lot worse for you."

Celeste looked down at her hands, saying nothing. She was absolutely right, she had gone into a battle that she could not have possibly won and suffered the consequences for it. But her brow furrowed at one thing, she was wrong at the reason why. She turned her gaze back to the cat that was looking at her condescendingly.

"I didn't do it for glory or to prove anything. Our friends were in trouble and someone needed to help."

"And how good did that do you?"

"Pretty well, I mean, I'm still here aren't I? And with Infinite focused on me, he couldn't do anything worse to Knuckles and everybody else. I may be hurt but if everyone's safe, then I call that a win."

Fierro frowned. "You shouldn't be hurt in the first place, Celeste. You should be out and about, getting ready for the next big mission but instead you're here. I gave you a direct order and you blatantly ignored it. Your actions may have stopped things in time, but I'm not gonna sit here and watch a kid get hurt on my watch."

"Then you should've come back with me instead of running off. If I had had Beta Squad behind me, then maybe things would've been different."

"We already finished our mission, Celeste."

"But there were still people who needed help. You didn't want to because you were scared of Infinite."

"I didn't want to fight him because it was an unwinnable battle. I'm sorry if you have some sort of death wish that you want to fulfill, but I have kids that need me and while I may be fighting to give them a better tomorrow, I also try my hardest to make sure that those two boys still have a mother and I will absolutely continue to do so without a second thought, Celeste. And that is something you couldn't _**ever**_ begin to understand."

Celeste looked down again.

"Everything I do in this war, I do for them and don't for a second try and call me a coward for wanting to get home to them. You made the decision to get hurt and that's ended you up here. I'm very happy to hear that you're well again, but please… know where you stand, don't get into battles you can't win."

With that, Fierro got up from her chair and began to leave the room.

Celeste sat there, looking down at her hands with tears at the brim of her eyes. "I- I'm sorry…"

"Show me that next time you're on the field." Fierro stated and with that she left.

 **~Trials of War~**

A meeting had been called for the resistance and all fighters reported to the map room for debriefing.

Knuckles stood at the head of the room and smiled at them. "Thank you all for coming today, I know that things have been pretty difficult since the defeat in Adabat, but I'm very happy to see so many of you are still alive and kicking after such a devastating defeat."

"Adabat was hard on everyone, especially for those that were lost in the fight, but we're happy to see that you're all still standing here today, ready to continue that fight with us." Amy continued.

Knuckles nodded. "Which is why today, we're gonna try to hit Eggman like he hit us. We're gonna try and take Metropolis."

Immediately the crowd erupted into a chorus of concerns as people talked amongst one another about trying to reach the impenetrable fortress that was the city of Metropolis. Getting in there was something nigh impossible despite the resistance's many attempts early on in the war and all times were met with varying degrees of failure.

And everyone was making their concern very evident.

Knuckles called for the room to quiet down and slowly but surely agreed. "Look, I know that this is a pretty tall order especially with what just happened, but we need to show the Eggman Empire that we're not afraid of them anymore, so we're going to show them a thing or two by fighting them on their own terf."

People were still unsure but allowed the resistance leaders to continue.

Amy did some typing on her computer and soon the map of the world transitioned Metropolis where we could see pictures of the bustling city appear around it. But with the swipe of her hand, the map transitioned to the Metropolitan Outskirts where they could see pictures of a canyon and some sort of strange technological labyrinth complete with all kinds of white and purple technology along with a massive force field.

"As you're all well aware, the city of Metropolis is a technological marvel of the world located within the United Federation one of few gateways into the future of our world. At least, it was until Eggman declared it the Capital of his Empire. Since then, Eggman has gotten to work, making the capital of his empire more and more impenetrable by the day. Surrounding the city itself is a force field, outside of it is a massive mechanical fortress that Eggman has specifically made to protect it, surrounding it on all sides for miles. But if that wasn't bad enough? Then somehow, Eggman has been able to manipulate the land around it so that the only way to even get into the Eggman Empire Fortress is through this lone canyon by land? And by air? Well, they've got too many defenses. Any of our ships getting within their sights and it's over."

Espio frowned. "One narrow entryway and a fortress to fight through when we get there. I don't like those odds."

"It's suicide!" Vector declared. "What makes you think we can get through like that? If we make even a little bit of a mistake, we're toast!"

Knuckles shook his head. "Everything's going to be fine. All we need to do is push our advantage. Eggman's not going to be expecting an attack on the frontlines, especially not so soon after Adabat. We hit him where it hurts with a surprise."

"I-is that really your plan?" Silver asked. "I don't wanna judge, boss. But this just doesn't sound right."

"Of course it isn't." Amy replied. "You really think we're just going to run in and get shot at like a bunch of idiots?"

"Well, considering Knuckles was looking like the one who came up with this…" Sonic snarked to which the Echidna sent him a cold glare.

"What exactly are we going for?" Tangle asked.

"You're all painfully aware of the geographical advantage that the Eggman Empire has. But what you don't know is that there's a secret to his defenses." Amy announced.

The scene then shifted to a massive tower that stood smack dab in the middle of the fortress, just outside of Metropolis.

"This is the Imperial Tower and the operating tower of Metropolis' defenses. Thanks to Rouge, we know that all power to everything in Eggman Empire Fortress is powered there. If we can get in and find the generator that runs the place, then we'll have a way right into Metropolis."

"Okay, that's a little more reassuring." Mighty smirked.

Espio still frowned. "That still doesn't answer the question of how exactly we get in."

"Same as always." Knuckles announced. "We fight."

 **~Trials of War~**

"And we're back!" Brenda grinned at the screen. "We have a bunch of exciting new competitors now so let's see who will be joining us next?"

Suddenly, the room went dark and the three judges looked around confusedly at this. And then, from nowhere a bright spotlight shone down from the ceiling and out appeared two skunks. The first of which was black with white stripes, yellow eyes with red pupils, orange gloves and shoes. The other was much taller than the first and had cream colored fur and white stripes along their body, red eyes and leather cuffs around their arms with metal spikes coming out of them. Both wore proud grins and had microphones in their hands.

The black skunk started. "The time is up…"

"And there's no way we'll blunder." The white one continued.

"Because it's winnin' time-"

Together they stated. "With rough and tumble."

The three judges clapped.

Eggman smiled. "Well, that was ni-"

But he was cut off as from nowhere, a beat dropped and Rough and Tumble began breakdancing.

"Uh… what?"

Rough opened things up. "We here and now, the time has come you'll never believe eyes-"

"Cuz Rough and Tumble here with a big surprise."

"We'll win the game,"

"It won't be so lame."

"The world is ours it won't be the same."

"Now-"

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Eggman shouted. Immediately the music cut and Rough and Tumble tripped over each other, falling to the ground. "What in the world do you two think you're doing?"

Rough looked up at him. "Uh… we were trying to win the contest."

"Yeah, bro. We were just doing our routine."

"Routine?" Eggman asked.

"Yeah, bro. For the talent contest!"

Shadow snorted while Infinite facepalmed.

"I- wha- you think this is a talent contest?"

"Yeah, duh."

Eggman facepalmed now too and let out a low sigh. "Infinite…"

"Right."

With a wave of his hand, the two disappeared in a flash of light.

The lights turned back on and Brenda looked confusedly at the camera. "Well… that was uh… interesting. But who's next?"

 **~Trials of War~**

Celeste awoke again and this time to Vanilla working on changing her drip. She groaned at this, startling the rabbit.

"Oh goodness, you're awake again?" Vanilla asked.

Celeste slowly nodded.

"Oh good, Cream honey could you please go and get Celeste something to eat? Light though, she's still recovering."

Cream, who had been carrying over a pile of papers, put them down on a desk and nodded, running off to go get some food, Cheese following after.

Vanilla then went to a fridge in the corner of the room and got a bottle of water for Celeste to drink.

The young girl gladly took it and eagerly drank from the bottle, downing half its contents in absolutely no time flat.

"Th-thank you."

"Of course. I am going to do anything I can to make sure that you get better. So anything you may need, I'll have for you." Vanilla smiled.

Celeste smiled back at her.

"Now tell me, how are you feeling?"

"Well, I'm very tired... and still feel weak. Uh… now that you've mentioned food, I'm also hungry and uh… I don't know what else."

Vanilla nodded. "Yes, you should be feeling that way for the next few days. You should be getting lots of rest. No running around, no going on missions and no fighting. Especially not one of the most powerful beings in the world."

Celeste slowly nodded and sadly looked down at her hands, Fierro's harsh words coming back to her.

"R-right… I-I'm sorry…" She said again.

Vanilla shook her head. "Don't apologize. You did what you thought was right, even though it put yourself in harm's way. That takes a certain type of courage that not a lot of people in this world have."

Celeste slowly nodded but still looked down sadly at her hands. She wasn't exactly sure about that when she just recently had her ear talked off by her superior about what she had done.

Vanilla continued though. "Sonic has it, Tails, Silver, Espio, Rouge, Shadow… my own daughter… All of you willing to put yourselves in the line of fire if that meant saving the ones that you care about. It's something I've seen way too many times."

Celeste looked up at her at that.

"It's why Cream isn't allowed to fight in the war." Vanilla sighed. "She was very disappointed when I first forbade her from doing so but I didn't back down. She has that same fighting spirit in her that would put her in harm's way when fighting the empire."

"Really? But how could she do anything though? She's only eight."

Vanilla smiled. "Not many people know this, but like Big she is also one of the Sonic Heroes. She's been on a few adventures with Sonic and the others and is very close with them."

"I- I didn't know that."

Vanilla nodded. "I am very well acquainted with them as well. Sonic, unfortunately a little too much."

This time, Celeste was confused.

"Cream doesn't know this, at least, Sonic and I hope she doesn't but that sort of behavior doesn't exactly bode for the healthiest life style. Sonic doesn't show how many times he gets hurt when running around out there and helping everyone he can. He always makes sure that when he has an injury, he comes right over to our home down in Leaf Storm. Sometimes it's minor, sometimes it's much worse. Either way, it's always the same."

Celeste was surprised by this. Even after Sonic's defeat on TV all those months ago, she still viewed him as some sort of invincible, unstoppable force that could never be stopped. Like anyone, she looked up to him and trusted him to be her strength when she was feeling down and on the battlefield. In many ways, he was the world's shining light of hope and his fearlessness and determination to keep everyone safe no matter what brought comfort to a lot of people.

But to hear that it was that selflessness that also put her in danger was hard to swallow as well. She couldn't imagine the world's greatest hero limping into a cozy little home and getting patched up by the woman before her on a regular basis, but it seemed to be the case according to Vanilla. But despite her disbelief, it made sense. Everyone in the world knew that to him, it didn't matter what happened to him if it meant that others could be safe.

She wasn't really sure whether or not to feel flattered or worried that apparently she was so much like Sonic in that regard. But whether or not that was a good thing was yet to be seen. She never expected her actions of diving into a battle she knew she couldn't win with Infinite to be compared to Sonic, she just did what she thought was right. She was lucky to have even be alive because of that. Cream said she was grateful for her actions. Fierro had deemed it foolish. Vanilla… she- didn't really know what to think about her words.

But Vanilla kept talking. "I just want to tell you what I always tell, Sonic. It's wonderful that you're willing to put your life on the line to help people, in your case the lives of a lot of people my daughter and I have welcomed into our own family were spared because of your intervention. That's something I cannot begin to thank you enough for. But that doesn't mean I condone what you're doing. These situations don't always have to mean giving your life away for the lives of others, sometimes there's a way for you to find a way to save people while still coming out of it yourself. Sometimes you need to find that way. But in the event that there truly is no other way, make sure that you give the bad people what's coming to them. But please, choose your battles wisely."

Celeste didn't know what to say to that and unfortunately didn't get the chance to say anything when Cream came in carry a bowl of oatmeal, a packet of chocolate pudding and two spoons on a tray.

"Here's your food, Ms. Celeste!" Cream chirped as she handed her the tray with a warm smile.

Celeste took the food and smiled at her. "Thank you, Cream."

With that, Vanilla began to exit the room. "I need to make preparations for when the others return from their mission, you can watch Celeste, can't you darling?"

"Of course!"

"Alright, then, I'll be off."

"Wait, Ms. Vanilla!" Celeste called out.

Vanilla turned to look at her.

Celeste smiled at her and said, "Thank you."

Vanilla gave her a smile and a nod and left the room.

 **~Trials of War~**

The resistance faced it, the gigantic canyon that would lead them into Mortar Canyon and if all went well, straight into Metropolis.

Leading the fleet were the Sonic heroes themselves, Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, The Chaotix, Rouge, Silver, Big, Mighty and Ray and behind them were both the other fighters and a fleet of ships ready and waiting in case of the need for an escape.

"This is gonna be one of our toughest missions yet." Amy frowned. "Is it too late to turn back?"

Knuckles smirked. "No way. We're not backing down yet. Eggman's not going to expect an assault on Metropolis of all places. We just need to push our way through and make sure that force field goes down."

Sonic smirked. "Besides, we've been through way worse. Getting through this place is gonna be a breeze."

"Maybe we have, but not everyone is quite as equipped to handle such a feat." Espio pointed out. "We have to remember that we're not the only ones here."

"Which is why we'll have to be extra careful to watch each other's backs no matter what." Silver stated, fist clenched and thrumming with telekinetic power.

Knuckles turned back to everyone. "Resistance, are you ready!?"

Cheers rang out throughout the group.

"Alright then, let's go!'

Battle cries of all kinds were let out as the resistance poured into the canyon.

But already, their gargantuan task was met with opposition as lasers mounted on the walls took aim and fired down on the resistance.

Sonic, being the fastest and at the head of the group was quick to catch on to this. "Silver!"

The white hedgehog immediately got to work, calling upon his telekinetic abilities to throw up a wall of energy that blocked the shots from coming down on them.

"Sonic, Espio. You two are up." Knuckles shouted.

The two nodded and in a moment, Espio hopped onto Sonic's back and the two vanished.

For a brief moment, Silver opened up a small hole in the portal and that was all that was needed for them.

Everyone could only watch as Sonic and Espio appeared into and out of existence around the battlefield taking out turrets left and right in absolutely no time flat. Sometimes Espio would appear and throw various weaponry at them, other times Sonic would home in. No matter what, with the invisibility and speed on their side, it didn't give the turrets enough time to lock in on either of them, causing them to be destroyed in no time flat.

When it was all said and done, Sonic and Espio landed on the ground in front of them. Espio, crossing his arms and smirking and Sonic taking an over the top theatrical bow.

Many rolled their eyes while some clapped and cheered.

But they continued to press on.

Quickly, they ran into another one of the doctor's traps.

Tremors began to ring out all throughout the canyon. A lot of them lost their footing at this, but not all of them. The Sonic Heroes were pretty stable when it came to keeping their footing, even the likes of Big, Charmy and Ray. They had been in situations like this more times than they could count.

But if only that were the end of the trap. Large rocks rained down from the sides of the canyon, down onto them.

Knuckles was quick to react though. "Incoming rocks. Fliers, get airborne you wanna keep off the ground for this one, but whatever you do don't fly above the canyon or else those anti-air defenses will give you a one way ticket. Tough guys, on both sides, you wanna stop those things from coming down. If you don't think you're strong enough, stay out of the way. Anybody who can't do either of those, to the center and if you have a shot at some rocks, shoot them!"

Everybody did as they were told, with the likes of Rouge, Ray, Charmy, Corvin and many others that had some form of flight were quick to kick themselves off the ground and fly into the air, narrowly avoiding the rocks.

Meanwhile, Knuckles, Amy, Vector, Mighty, Big and others took to the sides of the canyon, acting as a wall for their resistance brethren. They grunted against the weight of the rocks, some unfortunately getting crushed under the pressure, but most prevailed.

And for those in the center, they fired at any of the rocks that came their way, using all of their weaponry and other skills to keep themselves safe.

They pushed on through and soon, they made it clear of the rockslide. A few were lost in it all, but for the most part, they made it through.

Continuing on, they were surprised when the walls of the canyon began opening up and from them appeared massive hammers that went down on the resistance.

Knuckles again was quick to react, just barely holding up the hammer that would've crushed his group, as they quickly scampered out from underneath them.

Again, most made it out but some weren't so lucky, promptly being crushed by the weapons.

But if that weren't bad then things got even worse when little nozzles planted sporadicly on the ground began to spew fire up at random directions.

Mighty yelped as he just barely avoided one of them.

"Seriously?! I mean, seriously?!"

Sonic grinned. "Huh, Eggman's going all out with this place."

"Yeah, he really doesn't want us getting into Metropolis." Vector stated.

"Well, we're gonna keep on pushing through." Knuckles stated.

"Come on, let's get out of here and fast." Amy said.

They all nodded and were quick to dodge each and every one of the hammers and flames, some having a few close saves and others not being so lucky.

If only that didn't lead them into yet another one of the doctor's death traps.

Now they only had a short incline to make it up, before they would finally reach their destination. The only problem was that at the top of the hill, several rocket launchers were put in their place, ready and waiting to fire on them.

Sonic simply grinned at this. "I got this one, guys!"

Before anyone could object, the blue blur was already off, zipping around, sliding under and hoping over the rockets in a matter of seconds before reaching the top of the hill and homing into each and every one of the launchers, leaving the hill safe for everyone to pass.

When they reached the top, they finally saw it, The Eggman Empire Fortress stood proud and tall before them. Above them was a gigantic tower and the bright blue force field that kept Metropolis locked off from the outside world.

They were almost there, just had to get it through the impenetrable fortress of death. The only problem…

A massive army of robots stood before them, armed and ready and prepared to attack.

Sonic grinned. "Aw yeah, now it's a party."

 **~Trials of War~**

In the time since Vanilla had left, Celeste had taken the time to get to know Cream the Rabbit and she found that she had come to like the eight year old rabbit a lot. She was sweEt and lovable, but just as her mother said, she had a big heart and cared a lot about her friends and the world around her. She was still very much a child, but it seemed that the world and her own adventures with the Sonic Heroes gave her such an air of maturity that she couldn't help but enjoy.

Right now, Cream was enveloped in the story of what went down with the Metal Overlord and to say that Celeste wasn't captivated by it would've been a complete lie. She loved it.

"Metal Sonic was big and scary, but we weren't scared. Cheese and I were right by our friends' sides and wouldn't stop till he was done. But when Mr. Sonic went Super, we knew that it was all going to be okay."

"Chao chao chao chao!" Cheese added.

"Wow, that's amazing, Cream." Celeste smiled. She then brought a hand to her chin in thought. "What is it like when Sonic goes super anyway? I've seen it on TV, but what's it like to witness it in person?"

Cream smiled. "When Mr. Sonic becomes Super Mr. Sonic, everything changes." Cream explained. "No matter how dangerous it is, you feel like he's right there with you, giving you a hug and telling you that everything is going to be okay. He just has this sort of power that you feel in your heart and it's both too much for you but at the same time, it feels right. You just know that when he's gone super that no matter what happens, he will be able to save us all."

Celeste smiled. "Now that is incredible. I- I hope that I can feel that someday."

"Maybe when Mr. Sonic is going to finally fight Eggman, he'll go super and save the world." Cream's smile then fell. "I- I just wish I could be there to help."

Celeste frowned. "I know what you mean, your mom told me that she wouldn't let you fight. It must be tough."

Cream nodded. "Yes, I really wish Mama would let me go out there. I know that the war is big and dangerous, but I know that I can help my friends take this world back. I know that I can save people and stop Doctor Eggman from being so mean to people! But I'm not even allowed to try."

"Your mom is just worried about you, she doesn't want you to get hurt."

Cream just shook her head. "I know that there's a chance I could get hurt out there. But there was a chance I could get out there when I went with Amy and Big to find Chocola or when I had to say goodbye to Emerl! I know that this war is very different, that Eggman has done something that he's never done before, but when I'm here taking care of the people that are hurt and I know how bad things can get. But I don't care because I want to help the world that I care so much about!"

Celeste once again was dumbfounded, unsure of what to say in the presence of the passionate little girl before her. She just wanted to fight a battle so much bigger than her no matter what it took as long as she was able to help the world and her friends in some way. It was honestly, inspiring. She needed to do what she could to get back out there. Even if she wasn't this mission, she needed to get back out there no matter the cost.

But how…? her Wispon was broken and she could barely move. There was no way she could fight yet.

But maybe that was the first step.

Cream sighed. "I just want to be like you, be able to go out in the world and fight for everyone because I want to make a difference like I have before."

"Cream, maybe you can make a difference."

Cream looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Really?"

Celeste nodded. "I'm sorry but I can't help you with the thing with your mom. That mostly sounds like a thing between you two."

Cream frowned at this.

"But if you would be willing to help me, then maybe I can continue helping to change things out there."

Cream's frown turned to a look of determination.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Help me get to the weapons room. I need to pick out a new Wispon."

Cream gave her a nod of determination.

She rolled out a wheelchair for her to use and set her down in.

And like that, they were quick to make it down the halls to pick out her new weapon.

 **~Trials of War~**

The party had definitely been started as the Resistance roared and faced down the armies the Eggman Empire had before them.

Sonic couldn't help but grin as he turned up the boost and mowed down a pack of Eggpongs, sending them flying in all kinds of directions as if they were nothing.

"Now we're talkin' Eggman! No dumb traps or silly explosions, just a good old fashioned army for us to mow through!" Sonic grinned.

At that, he passed by Amy who was spinning around with her hammer out to get some of the robots. "Speak for yourself. I liked it better when we were at least able to make sense of where we were."

The Chaotix were standing back to back, stabbing, stinging and chomping their way through any and all robots that came their way. "Yeah, there are so many of these guys I don't even know which way is up anymore."

Silver flew above them, covered in his own aura as he was chasing after Buzzbombers. "If you see me or the Buzzbombers, then that's up Vector."

Rouge passed by Silver as well, leading several flying Badniks into the wall of the canyon behind them. "Poor Vector is lost in all this mess. Maybe if he kept his eye on the ball instead of his wallet, he'd have a better handle of things."

Ray was flying through the air with Mighty tucked into a ball by his side, which he chucked into the fray, allowing him to do an even more powerful ground pound. A massive shockwave was formed on the ground.

He got up and dusted himself off. "Come on, guys. Let's cut Vector a break."

At that, a robot charged their laser and pointed it at Mighty, prepared to fire only for Knuckles to come in and punch it to pieces. He fist bumbped Mighty at that and added. "Besides, you're one to talk, _Rouge!"_

Rouge couldn't help but give a cheeky smile as she kicked another badnik to pieces. "Hey, a girl's gotta have her jewels."

"What were we doing again?" Big asked as he swung his umbrella at some Eggpongs.

Fierro's voice came to life on the coms. "While this is a riveting conversation and I'm happy for all of you, there's way too many robots here!"

And she was right, more and more of the robots kept pouring in from Mortar Canyon. And for Beta Squad things weren't exactly going well.

Corvin was zipping around on his extreme gear, taking down whatever he could with Gadget onboard behind him, clutching tightly to the bird and his wispon as he added extra firepower to the fray.

Fierro refused to use her void wispon, standing to fight claw to claw with any of the monsters that came her way. And as for Rhythm, she stood back to back with her leader, slamming her hammer into any that would come for her.

Other fighters were mixing it up as well, whether it be with their fists or varying Wispons. Tangle for one was having a jolly good time as she practically break danced through the fight, using both her feet and her tail to do a sort of cha-cha while dancing to some song that she was humming to herself. Smokey Bear ironically, had his own Burst Wisp which he was using to torch the opposing armies because luckily for him, they weren't in the forest. One of the humans in the resistance, a young man named Ben who had a mostly green outfit on had elected to use a hover wispon to trash robots.

Eventually, Corvin found himself flying alongside Rouge and Ray.

"Eyo!" He grinned.

"Hi!" Ray smiled.

"Howdy." Rouge gave a two finger salute.

"H-h-hi…" Gadget stammered.

Rouge looked behind them and saw that a trio of Egg Chasers zoomed after them. "Looks like we've got company, boys. But I know just what to do. Follow my lead."

Rouge pulled ahead of them.

Gadget was confused by this. "Wait, what are you-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

But it was too late as both Corvin dove after Rouge as she made all kinds of aerial maneuvers that both he and Ray mirrored.

Through all kinds of twists and turns, they were able to outmaneuver the Chasers to the point they were able to crash into each other.

Rouge, Corvin and Ray fist bumped while Gadget simply tried to keep from losing his lunch.

"No wait, go ahead and throw up. Aim it at the enemy!" Corvin grinned to which Gadget just groaned.

Meanwhile on the ground Tangle was still doing her weird tail break dancing and was pretty much flinging herself across the battlefield using her tail like it was nothing.

From there, Charmy appeared alongside her and grinned. "I like your song, Tangle!"

The lemur smiled. "Thanks! Care to join me in a dance."

"Sure!"

Together the bee and the lemur began to do erratic dance moves that ended up tearing apart a lot of the robots around them as they bumped into them.

Big the Cat barreled towards them, declaring that he wanted to join in more dancing too which ended up mowing down robots in the process.

Somewhere else, Knuckles was smashing through some robots, only for Sonic to zip up next to him and crush one just barely out of his grasp.

Sonic couldn't help but smirk at him.

The emerald guardian huffed. "Show off."

"You know you love it." He snarked to which Knuckles rolled his eyes. He then added. "You up for a little Sonic & Knuckles action?"

"Heh, only if you don't mess it up."

"Just watch."

With that, Knuckles got into a crouching position while Sonic began to run around in circles around him at incredibly high speeds. Quickly, a miniature tornado was formed while Knuckles was lifted off the ground and shifted into gliding position. With ease, the two of them were able to plow through robots as they would be picked up by the Tornado and tanked by Knuckles from the inside.

Espio and Amy were now standing back to back with one another, fighting off any robots that would come their way with their quick reflexes and weapons of choice, making sure that they wouldn't get hurt.

"Espio think you can get a little camoflauge going?" She asked.

"With pleasure."

In a moment, he grabbed onto Amy's wrist and they both vanished.

The Eggpongs that were attacking them look confusedly at one another only to be smashed into oblivion from seemingly nowhere. One by one, they all fell.

When they decided to end their attack, they reappeared and gave each other a high five.

"Alright, Big it's you and me." Vector patted the fat cat on the back. "Are you ready?"

"Okay, Vector."

"Alright, let's do our combo move!"

"Right, a combo move…"

Vector got into position, waiting for Big who just stared at him.

"Uh… what is that again?"

"Big, my man. You're messin' up the flow of the battle. We gotta do this right here, right now or you're gonna make us look bad in front of everyone."

"Right. What is it I'm supposed to do?"

Vector facepalmed. "Look, just punch some robots so that we can move on."

"Okay!"

Together, Big and Vector began to wail on more of the robots.

Somewhere else, Sonic ended up converging with Mighty and Ray.

"Mighty, Ray. It's been a while, but how about the three of us do some triple trouble. What do you say?"

"I say let's roll, Sonic." Mighty grinned.

All three of them jumped up in the air. Ray flew, while Sonic jumped a little higher than Mighty did and Mighty immediately slammed down on the ground, knocking robots away.

As soon as Mighty landed, he immediately untucked and cupped his hands out and ready for Sonic to land, who he threw up into the air.

In midair, Sonic curled back into his ball form, where he was caught by Ray who spun around and chucked him down at a group of robots knocking them all out.

Elsewhere, Espio had run into Rouge. Who smiled at the lizard.

"Hey there, Espio. How about the two of us team up for a bit?"

Espio nodded. "What did you have in mind."

"Take my hands and follow my lead."

The lizard nodded and without another word, Espio grabbed onto her. They flew through the skies where Rouge decided to offload several bombs to which Espio caught on and did the same with his own array of weaponry, raining down explosives and sharp knives on suspecting foes.

Somewhere else, Big and Silver were together and using his powers, Silver grunted as he hefted Big up in the air and chucked him at several opponents.

But even through all of their attacks, more and more robots continued to keep pouring through to them.

Knuckles growled and spoke into his com. "This is getting us nowhere!"

"We can't keep fighting these robots forever, eventually they'll overwhelm us." Amy added.

"So what do we do? We can't just make this all for nothing." Silver added.

"The best course of action would be to fall back. We've come a long way but our efforts will be in vain if we can't get through this army." Espio added.

"Are you kidding?" Sonic asked. "We're so close. We can handle a few more robots if it means taking on Metropolis!"

"Sorry Big Blue, but Espio's right. There's no way we can get everyone through and take on all these robots."

"Then let's not take them all on." Knuckles stated.

"What?!" Everyone asked.

Knuckles continued. "Everyone, as leader of the resistance, I'm ordering you all to stay standing just a little longer before you fallback. The Sonic Heroes and I will be making our way forward into Mortar Canyon while you all fight for just a little longer. When you see an opening, fallback to the ships, we'll be meeting you as soon as the fields are down. Is everybody with me?"

Everyone gave their affirmatives.

"Alright, let's go!"

And together, the main heroes pushed their way into Mortar Canyon while the rest fought for just a little longer.

 **~Trials of War~**

"We've had a long day today, everybody." Brenda stated as she looked at the screen. "There have been several contestants who have come today and none of them have taken the coveted spot that is a new general of the Eggman Empire. But maybe our next applicant will blow us away."

At that, a new face stepped into the office, peaking everyone's interest. This one was a grey platypus Mobian with the feathers on top of his head slicked to the side sort of like a comb over. He wore a magenta jacket that both had much darker purple sleeves and was outfitted with golden buttons and the like along with tiny yellow spectacles not too dissimilar to the Eggman's, black, heeled boots and gloves of the same color. But what was most peculiar about him was a the glove on his left hand had golden tips, fit and a glass-like orb on the back of his hand.

"Oh well, aren't you a handsome, fellow?" Eggman asked. "Dressed to impress, I like that."

"Trying a little too hard if you ask me." Shadow huffed.

"If the Doctor likes it, then so do I." Infinite declared.

Shadow rolled his eyes at this while Eggman continued. "So, why don't you tell us about yourself, good sir."

"Of course, my name is Doctor Starline and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my benevolent ruler and might I say you look ravishing today?"

"Why thank you. I do say, you look quite ravishing yourself."

At that, Starline beamed. "You are far too kind your lordship."

"Why thank you, I-"

"Enough!" Shadow shouted. "I have been sitting here all day listening to enough talk from too many weirdos. If you two are going to continue to stroke each other's moustaches then you can do it on your own time, but please get on with it."

Starline sent a hard glare at The Ultimate Lifeform to which he rolled his eyes. He had absolutely no time for a wannabe Eggman.

But Eggman cleared his throat. "Ahem. Shadow's right. Why don't you tell us about yourself, Doctor Starline?"

At that, the glare immediately fell and he was back to smiling again. "But of course, your majesty. I already cordially introduced myself as Doctor Starline and I have been a big admirer of your work for quite some time. I was pursuing my own scientific endeavors when one day, you not only stole the Master Emerald from the legendary island of myth but shot the Death Egg into the sky. I couldn't believe my eyes at such a raw display of power. And then you continued to show your strength over the years, unleashing the God of Destruction, shattering Mobius and now taking control of the entire world? I have to say, Doctor. You are one of a kind!"

"Why thank you, it's nice to get some appreciation around here." Eggman smirked.

Shadow simply rolled his eyes.

"But of course. There has never been anyone greater on our fine planet than the benevolent ruler, Emperor Eggman!" He bowed.

Eggman was especially smiling now while Infinite was unreadable. Shadow's eyes had practically rolled into the back of his head at this point.

Infinite was the one that spoke now. "While I myself can admire someone whose loyalty lies in that of the master, why don't you tell us what qualities you wish to bring to the table."

At that, the Platypus got a particular glint in his eye that was all too familiar to anyone that knew Eggman. Shadow saw this and didn't like it one bit.

"But of course. I house an intellect that far succeeds any of the backwater ingrates that litter our planet, I have master's degrees in just about any field that you can imagine. But even then, I could never be as intelligent as the Emperor."

"Get on with it…" Shadow rolled his eyes.

Shadow could easily detect the concealed anger on the Platypus' face and simply smirked at him.

But still, Starline continued. "While I am very advanced in almost every field imaginable, my true passion lies in the sciences, and the Emperor actually inspired me to look more into robotics. I have designs that if I do say so myself, are quite extraordinary?"

"Really now?" Eggman asked.

"Oh yes." Starline smiled. He then began to press some buttons on the little orb on the side of his arm and in a moment, there was a flash of light. "They have been uploaded to your front desk now."

"Wait, how did you-"

"Get into your system?" He smirked. "I'll have you know that I am an expert hacker and am more than happy to apply my skills to the glorious Eggman Empire."

Eggman clicked a button on his desk and a holographic image of the schematics of some sort of gigantic mech came to life on his computer. His jaw dropped. "Doctor Starline, this is incredible."

"You like it? I call it the Egg Collider. And I think it will be the key to wiping out the resistance."

"I am incredibly impressed. But still, there are some adjustments I'd like to make." Eggman stated. "While you've certainly made groundbreaking steps here, if you're not careful you could cause damage to the pilot. But there's a lot of potential here."

"Well, I'm not nearly as perfect as you when it comes to massive machinery but with our combined intellects, I'm sure that we can figure this out."

"You're darn right we will." Eggman grinned. "I think we have ourselves a winner!"

At that, Eggman slammed a golden buzzer and confetti began to rain down from the ceiling and upbeat music started to play.

Starline was absolutely ecstatic at this. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

But if that were a surprise, then they were absolutely shocked to find a pool of water slide in from under the door before forming itself into the God of Destruction himself, Chaos.

"Wow! Looks like fate really is on your side, Doctor Starline. Chaos has come to join us!" Eggman announced.

The water god looked around confusedly while Eggman, Starline, Infinite and Brenda began dancing, the latter more because she didn't know what else to do.

But Shadow glared at Starline. The Platypus was clearly someone who believed in Eggman more than anyone else and would serve him regardless of anything that happened. In his experience as a GUN agent he had learned that, such undying loyalty was dangerous. In addition, with his advanced technology and knack for creating weapons of mass destruction he couldn't be trusted. He still had things to finish with Infinite but this Starline character he would need to have a close eye on.

But unfortunately, their party came to an end when a button on Eggman's console began flashing red.

Eggman dropped everything he was doing and raced over to his desk where a holographic image of Metropolis and the surrounding fortress appeared before him. It was in the fortress map, that blips appeared near the bottom of the screen and were quickly approaching the main tower fast.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Eggman shouted.

Everybody went silent unsure of what to do about it.

But it was Infinite who spoke up. "Doctor, please allow me. I will flush them out and make sure that they ne-"

"No." Eggman growled. "If they want to come onto m territory, then I'll handle them myself!"

All of them looked wide eyed at this as Eggman promptly left the premises.

 **~Trials of War~**

The Sonic heroes were currently making their way down an incline as they stormed their way into the Eggman Empire Fortress. The place went as far as the eyes could see, filled to the brim with all kinds of machinery that the resistance had to make their way through. Unlike most of the doctor's bases and fortresses, this one wasn't found with most of his usual red color scheme but rather a white almost cream colored metal complete with yellow and purple lights and accents to give the place the slightest splash of color. But if only the machines were all they had to go through. No. There were death traps of all kinds all over the place. Massive saws, lasers big and small, road spikes, bottomless pits, cannons and badniks of all sorts of different shapes and sizes were all over the place. It was ridiculous.

But the Sonic Heroes had been through it all and they were going to make it through no matter what.

"We just have to press on everyone!" Knuckles shouted. "Keep moving forward and we'll crack Metropolis open in no time."

Vector groaned. "If it were that easy, we would've broken in months ago. I still don't like our odds."

"Well there's no turning back now." Silver said.

"We've got this guys," Sonic smirked. "Full speed ahead!"

And together, they made their way down the path, dodging lasers and the like before making their way over a short gap and arriving at a spot where a row of the silver Egg Pawns faced them down.

But they didn't even waste the time showing off fancy tricks or moves that would prolong the fight. Instead, Silver sent a massive psychic wave that threw them every in odd directions that ultimately lead to their destruction.

From there, the group continued on where they were surprised to find the path end.

Pillars of land stood out in front of them at varying heights. Massive blue beams of death would occasionally fire on some of them at random moments. A hit from any of those would've fried them in a single shot.

Carefully, the resistance took to hopping across the platforms while those who could flew across without much of a problem.

Luckily, they were able to make their way across fine and soon found themselves on an arched stretch of road where they encountered a pack of Egg Evaders that Sonic didn't even waste time with. He raced ahead of the group and boosted into them, smashing them without much trouble.

Unfortunately, when they reached the end of the bridge, they reached a new area where a swarm of robots stood before them.

Sonic came to a halt only for the others to bump into him while they had their lasers trained and ready for them.

Silver was quick to put up a field blocking off the lasers from hitting them, allowing them to get to work.

Sonic started things off, diving into the fray and homing into a few robots before ending things off with a roundhouse to the face of a silver Eggpawn.

Amy on the other hand, was working like a spinning top, plowing through robots with ease.

Knuckles went to work next, he jumped into the air, spinning like a torpedo and managed to knock out a lot of the competition with ease.

Mighty ran at a bunch of the robots as they fired at him only for the lasers to bounce harmlessly off of his shell as if they were nothing. With a smirk, he rolled into a spindash and knocked them down like it was nothing.

Ray on the other hand, whizzed through the air, trying his hardest to get away from the lasers coming at him. But he had to gain his courage and take on some of the robots, so he swooped down and sent a punch to the face of one of the silver Eggpawns, taking it out.

He smiled at this before a laser shot at him and with a yelp he leapt back into the air again.

Charmy Bee was at it with his stingers, making sure to strike the robots with as much force as his little wings could carry him.

Espio used a wide array of his skills in martial arts and his weaponry to take out the robots with little to no effort.

Vector chomped down on any robots that would come his way, spitting out any of the remains at the survivors to deal even more damage.

Big the Cat was whistling a merry tune as he swung his umbrella around, taking out robots with little effort and little care in the world.

Rouge was at it with the roundhouses and swooping down to take out her enemies, making everything look easy.

And Silver had a ball with his telekinetic abilities, making quick work of literally anything that came his way.

Before long, the robots were cleared and they continued to make their way forward.

From there, they were introduced to a large chasm where a deadly laser grid awaited them at the bottom if they were to fall.

There were a few oddly placed platforms leading away from them but each of them with deadly traps awaiting them.

Silver, Rouge and Ray didn't waste time and began to fly to the other side while everyone took the platforms.

Unfortunately, missiles were fired from the walls, forcing them to doge every which way and that in an attempt to get across. But they managed and were able to get to the other side.

From there, they made it around a bend and had their destination in sight, the main tower. But they had a plethora of obstacles to get past first.

Rows upon rows of paths stood before them, a lot of them disjointed in odd places with the massive lasers firing at them in odd places. But that didn't stop the Sonic heroes as they continued their way down the paths.

They made it through and just at the final bend, Egg Evaders were in their path, that Sonic quickly dashed into.

With that, they looked up at the tower determined to get to the generator and allow them to get into Metropolis.

 **~Trials of War~**

"Alright everyone… we've gotta be quick." Knuckles said.

Amy nodded. "This is a simple in and out, destroy the generator so that Metropolis will be accessible to our forces and get the heck out of here before we attract anymore attention."

Ray shivered. "I hope we don't run into Infinite again… After last time he- he-"

But Mighty put a hand on his shouler. "Hey don't worry about it. If he ever dares lay a claw on you again, I've got your back."

Ray smiled at this.

"Still, if Infinite is here then we'll have to be cautious." Espio stated.

"I'm ready for round 2 with the guy after he ran off last time." Sonic smirked. "If he thinks that he can take out all my friends and then leave without so much of a fight, he's got another thing coming. I hope he's here so I can smack that mask right off of that ugly mug he's hiding."

"Well, you might get your chance now. We're here." Rouge said.

Together, the Sonic heroes stepped through a sliding door and entered the room.

They were met with a wide open space with the same whites and greys along with purple and yellow accents. In the middle of the room was a large steel platform and at the tail end of the room was a gigantic bulbous looking machine glowing a light purple color with all kinds of wires protruding from it at odd edges.

But the heroes didn't race for it. No they stopped cold because leaning against the machine was not Shadow or Chaos or even Infinite. No, it was the emperor of the world himself, Doctor Eggman.

"Going somewhere?" He asked.

Everyone immediately got into battle ready stances, but didn't dare move. He could have some sort of trick or trap ready for them at any moment, especially since he appeared unarmed.

"Eggman!" Knuckles shouted.

"The one and only." The Doctor took a bow. He then rose to his feet and made his way across the room.

"So it seems that the resistance thinks that they can step onto my territory and attack my land do they?"

Amy steamed. "Your land? You've stolen homes from people and turned the world into your own personal playground, and for what? To plaster your face on everything? To make yourself finally feel like you've accomplished something in your miserable life because you're so tired of losing?"

"Yes, my land." Eggman retorted. "And you're wrong on both fronts. The world has become a better place, maybe not for you and your lot but you and your band of vermin have always had ridiculous ideas in those heads of yours. There's only one man who can lead this world to a better tomorrow and you're looking right at him. Everything I do, I do to create a better world."

Silver frowned. "Well I've seen what that world's like and I can say that you're no friend to the planet but a tyrant who has to be stopped. I came back in time to put an end to your reign and your lapdog to rest."

Eggman laughed. "If you come from a future that you claim is doomed, then that means you've already lost, my friend. One way or another, the Eggman Empire will rise and I will reign supreme."

"Never, Eggman. We're getting into Metropolis no matter what." Knuckles stated.

"That's where you're wrong, Knuckles. Regardless of what happens here today, the resistance is not getting into Metropolis, not by a long shot."

Mighty growled. "We'll see about that."

Eggman waved the armadillo off, not bothering to look at him. Instead, he focused his attention on his nemesis. "But even then, I don't care much for the lackeys, you're the one I'm focused on Sonic. And I must say you've been awfully silent. What's the matter?"

Sonic said absolutely nothing. But if looks could kill, then Eggman would've been absolutely destroyed by the intense glare that he was giving the doctor. His teeth were grit, his fists fidgeting at his sides and his quills razor sharp and prepared to attack at a mere moment's notice. For those who had even the slightest chaos sensitivity, they had to take a step back from the raw negativity that was emanating off of the hedgehog.

Amy especially looked worried. _"Sooooonic?"_

But he said nothing, still glaring intently at the doctor.

He simply laughed. "Is something the matter, Sonic? I take the time to come down here myself and you have no words for me, no wisecracks, no snarky remarks? What was it that you liked calling me so much for the past two years now, Baldy Nosehair? How about one of those for old time's sakes?"

Sonic continued to say nothing, his glare only growing more intense.

"Or perhaps it's because of the time we spent together on the Death Egg?" Eggman smirked. "You held up quite a resolve and I was impressed that you made such a declaration to me so publicly and so soon afterwards and now nothing?"

None of his friends knew what to do as he was unmoving. And yet, Eggman continued to stroll towards the center of the room, almost on the metal platform.

"But no, you don't care much about your imprisonment, do you?" Eggman said. "You care about what I've done to the world and what I plan to do to all your friends."

At that, Sonic was off like a shot racing towards Eggman, but the Doctor was prepared, having punched one of the buttons on his chest.

A red force field appeared around the metal platform, which the blue blur was sent bouncing off of at such incredible speeds that the wall broke.

" _ **Sonic!"**_ Everyone shouted.

Amy, Mighty and Ray raced after him only to lose their footing as a rumbling started and the room began to shake around them. Everyone turned their attention back to the doctor.

Doctor Eggman laughed as the platform opened and from it he stood on the tip of a large robot that began to rise from the ground with him on top of it. This was a robot that was familiar to the group save for Silver, Mighty and Ray.

This mech had a spherical body which right now, had a glass hull that was open to reveal a cockpit for the pilot to control everything from the inside along with four slots for rockets around the lower half of its body, up top was a menacing face of doctor Eggman drawn with exaggerated sharp teeth and a fin on the top of its head. Along with all of that, one arm had a lancer on it while the other had a shield. Its back had two wings on the side to allow for flight.

"You may remember this one from a few years back." Eggman grinned as he hopped into the cockpit and glass closed. "You know it, you love it, it's the _**Egg Emperor!**_ "

With that, the Egg Emperor struck a pose.

He then twirled his moustaches and smirked. "And it's befitting for a king wouldn't you agree?"

With that, the shield around the Egg Emperor fell and Eggman got to work, firing off rockets at the band of heroes.

Luckily for them, Silver threw up a field that the rockets exploded on, leaving the area covered in smoke.

Eggman saw this and was surprised to see different members of the team jump out at different directions.

The likes of Rouge, Charmy and Silver went up into the sky, keeping an aerial view of the place.

But Knuckles and Vector shot out from the front, each with their fists extended and a war cry.

They struck the Egg Emperor and caused a couple of dents in the hull before they fell out. "The only thing befitting of you is a punch in the face." Knuckles declared.

Vector nodded at that and gave him a fist bump.

But this was only met with him swinging his lancer down at them which they quickly dodged.

From the skies, Rouge and Silver were working on getting him with aerial attacks. Psychic knives and bombs were chucked at the robot to which he simply threw up his shield arm to block each and everyone of them.

"It's gonna take a lot more than that to crack this shield." Eggman remarked. "But if you're wanting to fly away then two can play at that game."

The thrusters on the back of the Egg Emperor ignited and he began to race towards them.

Both Silver and Rouge gasped and tried to get away from the Egg Emperor, splitting up and zipping around the air.

But Eggman's focus was on the hedgehog and not the bat and unfortunately for Silver he found himself cornered with nowhere else left to fly.

The Egg Emperor came rocketing towards him with his its shield out and ready to ram him.

He desperately tried to throw up a telekinetic field to block, but the machine was much too big for him to handle, breaking the shield and giving him time for him to smash into him.

The hedgehog let out a cry as he fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Silver!" Rouge, Charmy and Vector cried out.

"No!" Knuckles cried as he jumped into the air and tried to send another fist at the Egg Emperor but this time he was ready for him.

His shield was brought up in front of the Emerald guardian, and this time it had electricity surging through it.

The Echidna could only gasp before he went hurtling into it, bouncing off an incredibly high rate as enough electricity went surging through his body to render him unconscious before he even hit the ground.

Amy, Mighty and Ray had finally got to Sonic.

The hedgehog groaned as they both helped him up. "Sonic, are you okay?!" Amy asked.

He groaned. "I'm fine, I'm fine… Wha-what's going on? Where's Eggman."

Mighty put his hand on his hip and pointed at the robot in the sky who knocked down Charmy without so much of a second thought before sending a rocket that sent Vector flying. He was still standing, albeit barely. "Trouble."

Sonic growled. "Let me at him, I can take it."

"Sonic, no." Amy said. "You're in no condition to fight that thing."

Sonic grumbled. "I don't care, I'm not letting Eggman get his way."

Ray shook his head. "Come on, Sonic. You just took a pretty big hit and we're dropping like flies. It'd be crazy to try this again."

But Sonic ignored them, shakily rising to his feet only to fall flat on his face.

Mighty and Ray were quick to help him up. Amy put a hand on his shoulder.

Eggman saw this within the cockpit and laughed. "The mighty Sonic the Hedgehog down for the count because he looked before he leaped. How sad?"

He then piloted towards them, the Emperor right up in their faces.

Sonic growled at this, Ray shook in fear, Mighty furrowed his brow and Amy glared.

"I must say, it's pretty nice to be on this end of the battle, standing in triumph while you grovel on the ground. How does it feel to face defeat?"

Sonic panted, trying to get up but it was no use. "I haven't lost."

Eggman laughed. "Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Sonic. A good portion of your friends are already down. You're all tired, weak and if you continue this battle, one by one you all will fall."

From behind, Espio had climbed onto the back of the machine, trying to get up to the power source for the Emperor's wings.

However, what he couldn't see was a glowing red light on Eggman's console making him very aware of the ninja's presence.

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd make a reappearance." He chuckled as he pressed a button on the console causing the Egg Emperor to have electricity run through its body and into Espio, causing the ninja to fall to the ground behind him.

The Egg Emperor then rose to its feet and flew over to where the generator was sitting. "Of course, you did come all this way so allow me to return the favor."

In one swift move, the Egg Emperor skewered the generator with its lancer arm. "Wha- what?!" Everyone gaped at the site.

But it was true, the generator was nothing more than a pile of mangled scrap at this point.

Confused, Amy, Vector and Rouge ran to the window while Mighty and Ray helped Sonic get there too.

They looked in shock as the force field that surrounded Metropolis began to flicker into nothingness. The turrets mounted on large pillars went from pointing determinedly at the sky suddenly went into resting position.

And with that, the first of the resistance fleet's ships began to move in.

"I- I don't believe it." Amy said. "Did you seriously just- did you actually- did you-"

But Eggman simply wore a cool, calm and collected smile.

And then it happened. In a single instance, the field snapped back on and with it, the turrets as well.

The first few ships that had moved into view of the Eggman Empire Fortress didn't stand a chance as they were assaulted with heavy fire, and soon some of them began to go down.

"No!" Rouge, Vector and Mighty shouted while some of them could only watch with halted breaths and pounding hearts.

But Amy knew what to do, she immediately got to her coms and barked, "All ships return to base immediately, mission failed! We need to abort now!"

"Smart girl." Eggman smiled.

"Now that we're done you can all leave. I have no interest in destroying you now. While it would be nice to quietly dispose of the star players in the resistance, it serves no purpose to me. If I'm taking you all down, it's going to be a spectacle, something that the world will see and will be talked about for generations. But a defeat here and now will serve me no purpose other than giving your painful band of rebels more of a reason to want me dead."

He then looked at them. "Or you can stay and fight and well… that won't end well for you."

The Egg Emperor brandished its lance ready for them to fight.

Amy gritted her teeth, unsure of what to do while everyone looked to her for guidance. She didn't want to leave, she wanted to stop Eggman at all costs. But at the same time, there wasn't really anything left for them here. Most of the resistance had already retreated, they had lost several forces, the defenses were still up and half of their party was down. She had to face facts, there was no way they were winning this battle and if Eggman was giving them the chance to leave then it was a chance they had to take because right now… the alternative…

Amy sighed. "We're making a retreat."

"Amy!" Sonic shouted.

"Sonic, no. We're leaving now and that's a direct order!" Amy shouted.

Sonic's eyes went wide at this. If Amy was yelling at him of all people, then… he sighed. "Fine…"

"Vector, Mighty, you're helping me drag the others out. We're getting out of here."

They did as they were told and slowly, the resistance left the base.

"So long, friends. It has been a pleasure playing with you all."

Amy, who had her arm slung over Sonic's shoulder helping him walk, turned back to him. Both hedgehogs glared at the smiling doctor.

"We'll be back." Amy swore to him.

 **~Trials of War~**

The Resistance Weapon's room had all sorts of Wispons hanging up on the walls, Burst, Rocket, Lightning, Void, Hover, you name it. Each and every one of them was there.

And Celeste had gone through each and every one of them, but found the one in awe.

She stared longingly at the weapon before her, it would be the thing that would carry her forward in the war, the thing that would help her make a difference in the world, the thing that would help her protect her friends…

And maybe…

Just maybe if she was lucky…

The thing that would help her in a rematch with Infinite.

 **[1] I should start calling this Sonic Forces: Ultimate because EVERYONE IS HERE! But no, Elise was a late addition to this story and wasn't in my initial plan when starting out the fic. But when thinking about what to do about the residents of Adabat, I thought about Soleanna and that's where we decided to go.  
She is also very different than her counterpart in the mainline games and the reason for this is for a few reasons. First off, Sonic 06 both did and didn't happen because it was wiped away and all of that. But Soleanna still exists as a location on Sonic's world and as such, so would its residents including Princess Elise. Sonic went to the Soleanna festival but nothing huge happened. He didn't really meet Elise and stuff like that. But yeah, it's been a three years in my canon since Sonic 06 would have happened making her now 20 years old instead of 17. She's grown and changed a lot and has even had her coronation, hence why she's a queen instead of a princess. She's had it tough and the war has been tougher, having had to make tough decisions. For a short time Soleanna was allied with the resistance, but she had to make the decision to pull out after a rather devastating loss. **

**And we're done with another chapter of Trials of War and boy was it a long one. I did not expect this chapter to get as long as it did nor did I really think it would turn out the way it did.  
So… stuff to talk about is for one, the Eggman Empire Fortress. Originally, I had no plans for it to be in this story, but leading into this I thought "What if it surrounded Metropolis" and that lead to a Mortar Canyon section far earlier than I think anyone would've expected. I knew I wanted Metropolis to be surrounded by some sort of force field for sure but I wasn't sure what else. But I'm happy that I figured it out and I hope you're all cool with it being done this way too. A late addition to this story and not part of my initial plan, but I think it worked. Send in a review or a message if you have questions about how it works. But we'll definitely come back to it.  
I already had a note dedicated to Elise so nothing there.  
Uh… what's next? Oh, Starline! Another late addition, but I'm like "Y'know what, I got Tangle and Whisper, what about Starline?" And well… I have some fun ideas for him moving forward. Just you wait.  
And uh… as for Celeste? She's got a new weapon so that'll be fun. Poll's closed for picking since she's got what she needs.**

 **And now, before I move into the Review Replies, I have a little announcement for this story moving forward. It's all fun and games, but I think it's safe to say that we're cancelled-  
Wait, what are you doing, put that pitchfork down, I'm kidding. Sorry. Lmao.  
But for real, we have officially ended the first sort of unofficial arc for this story and are now moving into the next one.  
Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for the Classic Sonic arc which is very important to this story and I promise will be super important moving forward.  
We are going to have six chapters dedicated to the Classic trio and how they're moving forward in the war. Originally, it was going to be five chapters but because "Super Casino Bros" got moved to the next chapter it's now six. But guys, it's not gonna be all about Classic Sonic, that'd be pretty boring and I'd be worse than Sega if I did that. No, we're getting major developments for Tails and Omega too along with some interesting developments coming as well. I have waited a very long time to get to this point in the story and I am so excited for what's going to happen and well… I know Classic Sonic sounds eugh, but just trust me on this guys. Some very **_**interesting**_ **things are going to be happening moving forward. Trust me, I know my Ways.  
Bad puns and announcements aside, let's get to review replies.**

 **tekina fiction:  
Oops. What was Shadow going to say? Hmmmmmmm… Oh well.  
The Gaia Temples got ripped out of the ground when Ship made a giant temple transformer in Unleashed. They're still underground in slumber with him, so they're just giant holes in the ground now.  
EVERYONE IS HERE! Hahaha, thanks friend.**

 **KelWellPower:  
Tangle was a fun addition and definitely expect more Whisper to come.  
Thanks for the kind words! **

**Animation Adventures:  
You're probably right about Endless Possibilities and the Knuckles scene was such a good time to write.  
Thank you and I agree about Chip. Sonic's definitely gonna keep wearing that thing no matter what since their adventure together meant a lot to him. I was glad to slide in reference to it here in this chapter.  
Infinite's a tough nut to crack and he's definitely not going down easily Not by a long shot. As for Shadow? He fights for his own reasons.  
Celeste did what she did for and it will have ripples.  
As for Cream, she's going to have a great moment that has been planned for this story since before its inception. I am so excited for her because it's something that I think everybody's gonna love. Who's Blaze?  
Thank you so much!**

 **Alexandria Prime:  
Thanks! And that's an interesting thought, who knows? Nobody's hit it yet.**

 **Infinite's Ruby:  
Thanks! And yep, you are the 150** **th** **review on this story. Congrats.  
Glad you loved the Sonic v. Shadow fight. Infinite's got a secret that I'm just dying to reveal. But it's not time yet.  
Thank you, I appreciate it.**

 **Guest 1: Thank you!**

 **Black Twilight Wolf:  
Remember to be constructive in your criticisms, thanks.  
Personally, I don't appreciate you putting down my writing to lift yourself up.**

 **Guest2:  
Thanks. Worried about the tone and am glad things are still good for you guys.  
I used crap because it was in the comics, but yeah, I may have gone overboard with the "pissed off"s. Noted. Thank you.**

 **Guest3:  
Honestly, I wanna give Rouge a hug too. She's pretty much lost her family with the war. Shadow's on the wrong side, Omega's missing and she's on the resistance. These guys need a reunion scene too.  
Characters are important to this story and I wanna make sure everybody feels just right. More characters to come!  
Tikal and Chaos are important. She doesn't like what's going on with him.  
Everybody talks about the reunion. Haha. Not yet, but we're getting closer and closer with every chapter.**

 **Guest4:  
Emerald isn't sentient in normal canon, at least I don't think? But I'm a fanfic and I'm playing by my own rules. It felt right.**

 **Guest5:  
Thank you and flashbacks will come when seen fit. Currently, no other planned ones.**

 **Guest6:  
Thank you for your notes and I don't think I'll be making any blatant references to death for the most part.**

 **Guest7:  
I talked about Sonamy before in an earlier chapter but don't expect anything huge for really any ships aside from Knuxouge? But even then, it's only playful flirting on Rouge's end.**

 **Guest8:  
Whisper is not connected to Infinite. But she will have a little bit to her. Mostly her IDW backstory.**

 **Guest9:  
Probably nothing too big on Tangle and Whisper backstory since they're minor characters in the story.**

 **Guest10:  
See Guest7.**

 **And that'll do for reviews. But one more time guys, happy [early] birthday Sonic! See you all next time in Super Casino Bros but like for real this time.**


	17. Chapter 16: Super Casino Bros

**Ey, it's a-Mario and a-Luigi in the Super Casino Bros Chapter and… wait, that's not right.**

 **Yo, we're back with another chapter of Sonic Forces. And well, time for something nice and chill after how intense the last two chapter were? I think we need it. Who's up for the Classic Trio up for some fun in the Mystic Jungle? I am! So let's begin the Classic arc with this very short chapter.**

 **Wait, Mystic Jungle… Hey, you know what, that's close to the Mystic Ruins right? But more on that later. First, let's enjoy this chapter.**

 **Trials of War:  
Chapter 15-  
Super Casino Bros**

 **[M1]** The boys were at it again as they made their way down a slope in the middle of the mystic jungle. The upbeat mood was set for them. The jungle was alight, from the bright casinos all around them, upbeat music was playing and the jungle was alive with excitement as Sonic was feeling better and Tails was in high spirits after what had happened in Station Square.

But what had them even more excited was the fact that they had almost reached their destination, they just had to make their way through the Mystic Jungle and would make it to Tails' lab at the Mystic Ruins in no time.

"We're almost there, Omega. Just a little bit farther and I'll get you fixed up in no time." Tails grinned.

"Aw yeah, let's roll guys!"

And like that, they were off through the forest.

Sonic and Tails made their way down a large incline before they were set rolling along through the forest.

They weaved in between trees, hopped over logs and stumps and the like before they arrived at the temple, itself.

The place was gigantic and made entirely of stone. It was finely lit with little torches at equidistant intervals down the halls. The temple was a maze that the trio had to make their way through.

Quickly, they found that they had lost their way in the temple and were lost.

"Alright, Tails. Where are we goin?" Sonic asked. "Cuz I honestly have no idea where any of this is but this temple is dark and dangerous."

Tails shrugged. "You got me. I just was kinda following you into the dark and dangerous temple."

"Great, so we're lost?"

"Not necessarily. Normally if we hit any of Eggman's robots, then we've found our way somewhere."

"Well do you see any Eggman robots around here?" Sonic asked.

Tails pointed at Omega.

"He doesn't count!" Sonic huffed to which the fox laughed.

"But for real, Maybe Omega has some sort of way to help us find the way out." Tails said.

Sonic narrowed his eyes at the robot. "What does the tincan have that can get us out of here."

"Omega, predict the most likely path that will lead us outside."

" **Calculating."**

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, you don't think the robot's actually gonna be able to find his way out of here when we can't do you?"

" **Optimum route found. Immediate execution initiated."**

The thrusters pushing Omega forward suddenly let out a burst of speed and he raced down the hall.

Tails gave Sonic a sly grin to which the hedgehog groaned.

"Not one word." He stated before following Omega.

Omega lead them down numerous halls, several forks in the road and the like before finally they arrived at a chamber where wouldn't they know it, there were the Eggman robots standing around.

Ten Eggpongs were standing front and center before them, with their blasters trained on each of them.

"Oh, there are those Eggman robots you were talking about." Sonic mused.

At that, the trio got right to work.

Omega started things off by firing a rocket at the head of the group, causing it to explode into millions of tiny pieces.

The robot raised its fist in victory only for one of the survivors to fire a laser at its chest, leaving a scorch mark on his chest. Omega stared at the robot for a few moments, before quickly changing his arm into machine gun form and firing on both the one that left the mark and two other robots around him.

Sonic on the other hand, got to work by jumping up into the air and performing a drop dash that mowed down two of the badniks before he jumped out of it again and homed in on the last.

He uncurled from his position and dusted off his palms as if it were nothing.

And for Tails, he got to work, using his namesakes to slice and dice the remaining badniks like it was nothing.

Sonic and Tails fist bumped at this, seeing that the room was cleared. But now, they took a look at the chamber and realized one thing. They had reached a dead end.

"Oh nice one, Omega. There's nothing here!" Sonic yelled.

But at that, Omega's chest opened up and revealed a single rocket, to which Sonic and Tails looked confused only for the robot to fire it at the wall at the far end of the room.

A bunch of dust was thrown into the air at that, to which Sonic and Tails coughed and wiped their hands in front of their faces.

Omega on the other hand calmly walked out and stated, **"Optimum escape route acquired."**

Sonic and Tails crawled out from the hole made in the wall and just looked dumbfoundedly at Omega.

"Well, that-that's certainly one way to do it." Tails said.

Sonic just shock his head. "I am both shocked and impressed. Robots, man. Do I get one of these in the future, because I think I want one."

"Uh… not really."

Sonic snapped his fingers. "Darn."

Now they were out on the outsides of the temples where they could see the casinos all around them again, the glowing neon lights in both signs in the air and on the path themselves and the massive buildings contrasted heavily to the plain stone pathways with light moss growing on them along with the trees, vines and leaves all around.

The trio made their way down an incline where they suddenly lost their footing and to their surprise landed on what could simply be described as a gigantic neon pinball bumper it pushed them right on the path and through a loop.

Sonic laughed at this. "Haha, gotta thank Eggman for leaving all kinds of stuff like this to give us a little boost here."

"Maybe this is some sort of entertainment for the guests?" Tails asked. "I never really understood the functionality of these things in all the casinos we've been to."

"All the casinos? You mean there's more than Casino Night?"

"Tons." Tails said. "I think that Eggman has a gambling problem."

Sonic shook his head. "Guy needs a hob- Oh! Slot machines!"

Tails looked at where the hedgehog was pointing and true to his word there was a massive slot machine around along with a few more of the pinball bumpers.

Sonic didn't waste time bouncing off the bumpers and into the top of the slot machine. Tails could only stare in wonder as the different slots began to spin round and around before they finally landed on a Sonic head and two rings.

With that, Sonic got dumped out the bottom along with a pile of rings.

"Aw yeah!" Sonic cheered.

Tails chuckled. "Nice one. Now what are you gonna do with that money?"

"Nothin' I just like watching the colors and stuff." Sonic shrugged. He then waved both of them forward. "Come on, we've still gotta keep movin' on."

With that, he continued down the path and jumped onto more of the flippers that lead him up to a path that soon lead down a slope and down to more flippers. From there, they bounced their way up.

In their path, a few Eggpongs stood in their way that didn't even get a moment to react before

Sonic spindashed into them and made his way down another slope.

From there, Sonic, Tails and Omega continued their way down the path and soon, they found a bunch of circular bumpers that they easily hopped above to get across.

Tails groaned. "I hate casino zones, I am not a pinball."

Sonic hopped up a few platforms, taking out an Eggpong along the way to which the robot and the fox just flew after him.

"I live for this stuff, what a rush!"

From there they hopped off the path and landed on more platforms which knocked them across to a plunger that lead them up to a few more flippers that lead them up to the top path.

From there, they were lead down a slope that curved up into a ramp that sent them flying into the air.

Sonic cheered at this as the trio flung their selves right in front of the largest building in the casino.

A gigantic, neon archway stood proud and tall above them leading into a temple, outfitted with all kinds of different lights.

Sonic frowned. "Hmph, Eggman's really made a mess of this place with the whole, casino thing. Taking a forest, a temple and making huge casinos like this. It's awful."

Tails frowned. "Yeah, with the world like this, Eggman can pretty much do what he wants with absolutely no repercussions."

Sonic frowned. "What if we head into this huge place and see if we can find anything important. Ey, Tails?"

Tails grinned. "Let's do it!"

Together, the two boys ran into the casino and they were incredibly impressed by the grand hall that was before them. Golden statues of Eggman lined the halls, red carpet was laid out on the ground and all kinds of real lotto machines were set out into rows. All sorts of imagery of the Eggman could be seen all over.

Classic Eggpawns could be seen waving signs all around at this only to spot the trio at the door.

For a moment, they just stared at the trio, processing what exactly they should do with Sonic, Tails and Omega in their presence.

Sonic and Tails' faces perked up into smiles, trying to look as kindly to the robots as possible.

The robots stared.

Slowly, Sonic and Tails began to awkwardly try and shuffle their way past the Eggpawns.

At that, the robot's eyes went red and they began to brandish their signs in preparation for battle.

At that, Omega who hadn't moved since they entered the room, lifted his arm and shifted it into machine gun form.

Sonic and Tails' eyes widened.

At that, the robots' began running at Sonic and Tails to which they both prepared for battle only for them to be shot down by Omega.

Sonic and Tails dropped their battle poses and just stared at the pile of busted robot parts while Omega came over to them.

"Well that was anticlimactic." Tails deadpanned.

Omega met them and Sonic patted him on the back. "Thanks, buddy."

Omega just stared at him for a moment before he lifted his right arm and gave him a thumbs up.

The three continued on, running through the slot machines and running into more and more of the Classic Eggpawns waving signs around.

Quickly, they found their way through and made it to a stairwell that lead them down to the basement of the place.

They were surprised when they got to the basement of the base to find a mess of Eggpongs standing in front of a gigantic bank vault.

Immediately they all trained their guns on the trio.

Sonic chuckled. "We- we come in peace?"

They fired to which the hog quickly dove to the side and curled into a spindash. He reared his way around and slammed into some of them, knocking them over as if they were bowling pins.

Tails on the other hand, jumped into the air and began to fly around the room, to which some of them trained their blasters on him.

He whizzed through the air laughing all the way while they missed each and every shot before he flew into the fray. With their simple programming, they kept trying to fire at him only to fire at each other.

As for Omega, he simply tanked most of the blasts before his body sprung open revealing all kinds of weaponry.

Sonic and Tails saw this and both gasped. "Hey wait, Omega-"

He fired to which Tails quickly flew up into the air while Sonic dove away from the blast.

Smoke filled the room and Omega simply stared ahead. Soon, the only visible thing left was the glowing red eyes of the robot.

Soon, Sonic and Tails began coughing before they waved their hands in front of their faces.

Coughing, Sonic walked up to the robot. "Chaos, Omega. Don't do stuff like that again."

Tails coughed too. "Yeah, you really overdid it there."

From there, they shook the soot off of their bodies and went over to the locked vault. There, they quickly opened the door and found massive piles of gold.

"Woah!" The brothers exclaimed at the mere sight of the sight.

Sonic and Tails walked in and were wide eyed at the sight of all the riches before them. Silver and gold, diamonds and gems, extraordinary wealth of all kinds. It was unreal. Like something out of some sort of storybook.

The two looked in awe as they walked in a path that was filed out.

"This is insane." Sonic gaped.

"Tell me about it." Tails added. "I- I can't believe Eggman has all of this money."

"Right?" Sonic frowned. "I- I hope it's all his."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, this world is in his control, everything bends to his mercy. How do we know that he didn't just take it from everyone?"

Tails frowned now too. "We don't… But knowing Eggman…"

The two went silent at that, not really having other words to say but hating the fact that Eggman had taken more from homes from the people of Mobius. **[M1 End]**

Soon they arrived at the end of the vault and were surprised to find a shelf of some kind that had all kinds of things on it. There were old crystals from Quartz Quadrant Zone, some of the stone used in the ancient Gaia temples, various alien plant life from Planet Wisp, all kinds of incredibly rare and priceless objects. But among them all was the piece de resistance.

Sonic and Tails gasped as they took in the sight of, "A Chaos Emerald!"

They were right though. Standing before them among the artifacts was in fact the green chaos emerald and they absolutely couldn't believe it.

 **[M2]** The two looked at one another and nodded, immediately racing to go for the emerald only for them to be stopped dead in their tracks as three figures dropped into view.

Both jumped back at this, surprised at the sudden appearance of newcomers.

"I- wha- who?"

But Sonic was only met with a sharp chuckle. "Heh, thought you could make your way off with the treasure, did you, Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"What?!

The figure turned around and reveal himself to be what appeared to be a green hawk Mobian with a white tuft of feathers on his chest and flame tattoos running down his arms and legs. He wore red boots, white gloves with red cuffs and goggles resting on top of his head along with a smirk that really rubbed the younger hedgehog the wrong way.

"Jet?!" Tails gasped.

"Who else, shorty?" One of the other figures asked, turning to reveal herself to be a purple swallow with her own flame tattoos. She wore white pants with the same flame design along with a white bandanna and sports bra. She eyed the young foxkit with the utmost scrutiny but also maintaining a cool, calm and collected air about her.

"Wave?!"

"Better believe it, pipsqueak."

He did the same, but in his case, did so with an extra stomp. This one was a grey albatross who also had his own flame tattoos. He wore gigantic yellow gloves for gigantic hands, a necklace made up a few silver pieces and like the others, goggles resting on his head.

"Storm?!"

Sonic clenched his fists at his side and was in position to run. "Who are these guys, Tails?"

Tails frowned. "The Babylon Rogues."

"Who?"

At that, Jet steamed. "Who?! Who?! Are you kidding me, Sonic the Hedgehog? I am your greatest rival!"

"That's debatable." Tails rolled his eyes.

"Hey, don't talk about the boss that way!" Storm glared at him, to which the fox rolled his eyes.

"Rival, huh?" Sonic smirked, he then cracked his knuckles. "Does that mean I'm gonna have to knock some sense into them, then?"

"No, I don't think so." Tails chuckled. "Although, I think Jet may challenge you to a race."

"While that would be fun, I don't really have time to prove I'm the fastest thing alive, Sonic."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "You the fastest thing alive? You look slower than my grandpa, bent beak."

"Oh is that so, pipsqueak?"

"Yeah!" Sonic grinned. "Come on, let's take a few laps around the Mystic Jungle, right here, right now!"

"You better think about what you say, I've been practicing!" Jet smirked.

"Practicing getting your butt whooped by a hedgehog?!" Sonic retorted.

"You wish!"

And the two just kept going on and on while Wave and Tails just went to their own conversation.

Wave nodded to the collection of treasures that were sitting on the shelves. "Storm, bag the loot. We at least should get this done while Sonic and Jet keep going at it."

Storm nodded and pulled out a burlap sack that he quickly went to piling things into.

"Wave, what are you guys doing here?"

Wave laughed. "Isn't it obvious? We're here robbing Eggman."

"What?!"

"Duh. Why else would we be out here in the middle of the Mystic Jungle? Sightseeing, gambling? Not a chance, squirt."

"And you decided one of Eggman's strongholds would be the best place to rob him?"

"Normally no." Wave shrugged. "But after you resistance guys did a number on the place it gave us the perfect opening. With most of Eggman's robots busy with reconstruction on the other side of this place, it was easy pickings."

Tails frowned. "The resistance was here?"

"Yeah. A few weeks ago." Wave said. "Aren't you with them? Here for the Emerald or something?"

Tails looked away from her, not saying anything.

"Oh…"

"Wh-what about you guys?" Tails asked. "Are you with The Resistance? I mean, I know it's not exactly your thing to get involved with stuff like this but you've helped us before…"

"Heh, they wish." Wave smirked. "Eggman isn't our fight. Not really. The world may be in danger but the way we see it, with him in control, snagging treasures has been so much easier. When you're dealing with a guy who has everything in the world, he doesn't exactly notice a few things going missing here and there. Makes it incredibly easy for a group of thieves."

"I guess that makes sense…"

"Now your turn to answer a question. What's with legs over there? Did you guys find the fountain of youth or something? Is that a thing you guys have now? I dunno. Your adventures are always weird."

Tails laughed. "No, no. It's rather complicated, you see the whole war thing has kind of caused a bit of a mishap in the timeline and so I guess it brought us the Sonic of the past to help us save the present if that makes any sense."

"Time travel?" Wave raised an eyeridge. "And here I thought that us being aliens was a weird."

"Yeah… I'm not really sure on the why either but I'm happy that he's here to help."

Wave patted him on the back at that. "Well, that's good for you, I guess."

At that Storm came back and looked at Omega. He stared at the robot while the robot stared back.

They took a few moments scrutinizing each other before Storm finally opened his mouth. "Why's the red dude a robot now?"

That ripped each and every one of them out of their conversations to which they stared dumbfoundedly at the albatross.

Wave furrowed her eyeridges. "Storm, that's not Knuckless, you dolt. That is E123 Omega. One of GUN's star operatives."

Jet raised an eyebrow at that. "Wait, GUN?! You mean to tell me you're tangling around with those creeps now!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "As if! Omega's cool. We're trying to get him fixed."

"Eh… you don't have to do that." Wave said. "No offense, but I'd rather not have an angry robot chase after us."

"Why'd he be after you guys?" Tails asked.

Wave laughed. "Don't you know? The Babylon Rogues are some of GUN's most wanted. You steal from the Queen of Soleanna one time and suddenly they want your heads."

"Last time we take Storm's advice for a gig." Jet grumbled.

"Hey! I didn't know the queen would miss her dumb princess crown when she has a queen one now?!"

Everybody gave him bemused faces once again to which the albatross sighed.

Wave just shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Gimme the sack, stupid."

Storm nodded and handed it over to her.

Wave riffled through the sack and pulled out the Chaos Emerald, handing it to Tails. "Wait, what?!"

"I think we're done here." Wave shrugged. "And seeing that you guys probably need this more than we do, we'll just be taking our leave."

"You guys are just going?" Tails asked.

Jet nodded. "Sorry kid, we've got more of Eggman's stashes to rob. With everything going on in the world. Staying any longer might invite unwanted attention."

"So where are you guys going after this?" Sonic asked.

"Wherever the next place to loot decides to show up." Storm said.

"And you guys really don't want to help at all?" Tails asked. "The resistance can lose fighters like you."

Wave simply shook her head. "Sorry, not our fight. But I do hope that you guys win."

Tails frowned at this and for a moment, Wave really did feel bad for the kid but she simply shook that off.

She joined her fellow Rogues as they jumped onto their gears and rode off.

The Rogues flew in silence for a moment before Jet asked a question. "Did Sonic look shorter to you?"

"Time travel apparently?" Wave shrugged.

"This is why I stay out of their stuff." Jet shrugged. "I'll take treasure over any of that nonsense any day."

The three rogues agreed at that and flew off. **[M2 End]**

 **~Trials of War~**

Deep within the Mystic Ruins, Sonic and Tails had finally arrived at Tails' lab and had deactivated Omega.

Tails stood behind him messing with the robot but this time with the proper tools to fix him while Sonic impatiently tapped his foot waiting for him to finish.

Finally, Tails closed the hatch on the robot and turned him on.

Sonic and Tails eagerly watched as Omega began to power on before them.

Soon, red eyes shone brightly before them.

"O-Omega?" Tails asked.

" **I am E123 Omega, The worlds' most powerful robot and one of the top ranking GUN Operatives under Team Dark."**

Sonic and Tails cheered. "We did it! Omega's back!"

"Haha, yeah!" Sonic grinned. "I knew you could do it, buddy!"

Omega looked at them. **"Tails, where is Infinite?"**

At that, Sonic and Tails looked at each other unsure of what to say to the robot. But they knew that something was going to happen.

 **Mystic Jungle: Cleared!  
33% of the world saved!**

…

 **EPISODE OMEGA UNLOCKED**

 **[M1] Casino Forest, duh.  
[M2} Sonic Riders Zero Gravity Options**

 **And we're done with this chapter. Short one, I know but didn't really have a lot of ground to cover with the whole Casino Forest deal. But yeah.  
Also, in regard to the whole "Mystic Jungle: Cleared thing" that's something I've been wanting to do for a while but just didn't because idk. But yeah, as we wrap up certain areas in this story, more and more areas will be cleared like in the game. So with this chapter, we have officially wrapped up all chapters in the Mystic Jungle and won't be returning to it. The other places that have also been completed so far are Sunset Heights, Studiopolis, Station Square and Adabat.  
The Babylon Rogues are some of my favorite characters and I have waited a long time to appear in this story. I'm so happy to finally get them in. It was nice seeing them and keeping up with them here in the war. At least somebody's happy with everything going on.  
So yeah, next up, we've got Episode Omega to continue the Classic arc and that one is gonna be a long one, but a chapter I am very much looking forward to. When I started the Classic Arc, did you really think that things were gonna be just about Classic Sonic? Nope. We've got full important for Tails and Omega too and I can't wait to dig into that one. But don't expect it as soon as this one came out. Shooting for sometime in July or early August though. Hopefully before I go back to classes on the 22** **nd** **of July.  
And yeah, that was Super Casino Bros.  
Now, onto the Review Replies.**

 **TheGameNGuyner:  
Nah, no worries. Life happens to everybody.  
Well, I'm sure this chapter was a nice relief after the length of the last one. Thank you.  
And we continue the trend of everyone is here with the Babylon Rogues.  
We're all looking forward to the reunion. Still gonna have you all wait for it but it's coming, don't worry. This arc is actually a very instrumental piece leading up to the reunion so that's exciting. But nah, Tails is going to have a few moments moving forward and I'm excited to move forward with him. Along with the reunion, there's another Tails scene that I am very looking forward to as well and hope to do him justice.  
Thank you. Next one will definitely take some time.**

 **KelWelPower:  
Haha. We definitely do have a little bit of inspiration from Operation Big Wave. Glad to have kept you entertained.  
Shadow was definitely one of the most fun to write here. Lyric, Rough and Tumble were fun. They were all throw away jokes, especially Lyric. Starline's gonna be fun though.  
Sonic's interaction with Eggman was fun. And you'd be right that would be their first interaction since the Death Egg. They'll definitely be having more confrontations but it'll be a bit of time. But they'll be fine.  
They're gonna be back to back chapters.  
Things are hard for Celeste, but things will get better.  
Thank you for the advice.  
Hope you enjoyed this one. Thank you.**

 **Guest1:  
Time will tell for Starline.  
I'm glad you enjoyed it.  
Duly noted on the Mortar Canyon second.  
Thank you.**

 **Guest2:  
By worse than Sega, I was referring to the oversaturation of Classic Sonic.**

 **tekina fiction:  
We talked on Discord already, so I'll keep this short.  
-Fierro's kids almost didn't make it into the story because I was unsure of whether or not it would be too mature for this story. But when Celeste decided to do what she did in Chapter 13 for what we got here.  
-The contrast between their parenting and how they went about things was what I wanted to do and I'm glad that it came across well.  
Thanks again!**

 **Animated Adventures:  
Haha, we're all alive here!  
Yep. And… no. Actually the name is Spanish/Italian. Admittedly, I wanted to go with the Egyptian theme for the kids since cats are a huge part of Egyptian culture and mythos so that's where that came from.  
Oh yeah, Cream is definitely part of Sonic's core circle and that's something I've always thought from her inception. Generations definitely helps. Some of them like Amy, Knuckles and Tails especially are a lot more famous then you've got faces like Cream, Big and Mighty who aren't as famous for various reasons. Cream's age definitely has a lot to do with it, but the Sonic Heroes love her.  
Cream's moment is far away, but is gonna be great for her character.  
Eggman's totally original gameshow was fun. A bit of a spur of the moment idea that I was glad to work it into the chapter.  
It's gonna be a while till we get back to the resistance but we've got going now is going to be very necessary for the story moving forward.**

 **Guest4:  
I'll see what I can do about that Star Wars reference.**

 **Guest5::  
Thank you.  
Unfortunately, I'm just a writer but if you know any artists that would be up to make a comic lemme know. At one point, I actually considered making this a YouTube series but don't know the right people to do that, especially for free. So fanfiction it will remain.**

 **Guest6:  
Thank you and if necessary, yes.**

 **SpiderDom321:  
Ey, man! I was wondering where you went. No worries though, life happens and all of that. You good. Still need to read that one.  
I'm happy you enjoyed it.  
Had to shoot for that nostalgia reference. Haha. And thanks so much.  
Welcome. Your work with the two characters showed that they work really well with the main cast so I decided to give it a shot. Balancing characters is becoming tricky as you probably saw in the last chapter, but I'm hoping to get a better grip on it in my next large scale mission for the resistance which is a little while away but still.  
Thanks as always and I look forward to when you get back to this story.**

 **Guest7:  
To be fair, Vanilla is pretty justified since it's not just your typical Eggman plot. The whole world has been taken over. Charmy doesn't really have a mom to stop him.  
I'm sure these characters will get a crack at the Emperor at some point.  
Someday for Shadow, someday.  
Thanks a bunch!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw, Guest3:  
Thanks!**

 **That'll do for this one and see you next time in EPISODE OMEGA.**


	18. Chapter 17: Episode Omega Part 1

**First off, I want to say that I've heard what a lot of you are saying and I've decided that in order to make this fic as accessible as possible, if a chapter surpasses 10,000 words it will officially be split in two. This being the first chapter to experience that since it hit over 10K while writing it to just be split now.**

 **Hey all and welcome to the second chapter of the Classic arc or what was originally going to be the chapter to kick it off. By the way, I didn't say it last time but I decided to stick Super Casino Bros and Episode Omega back to back because I didn't like the idea of that cliffhanger in the last chapter just being left for a chapter before coming back to this so yeah. That's why we're here now. Either way, I'm really excited to be giving you guys this chapter, it's gonna be great, so here we go with another long one.**

 **And here we go with another chapter of Trials of War, Episode Omega. I'll admit, this is a chapter that I have been waiting over a year for and I'm very excited to be doing it now. Let's finally learn what happened to Omega.**

 **Trials of War: A Sonic Forces rewrite  
Chapter 17-  
Episode Omega Part 1**

Sonic and Tails looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Sonic wasn't sure what to say while the robot looked expectantly at them. Sonic pursed his lips and Tails looked down sadly.

The robot narrowed his visual receptors at them. **"Tails."**

The foxkit sighed. "Infinite is… well… we don't know where he is?"

He further narrowed his visual receptors at them.

"Yeah, last we saw that creep was back in Green Hill Zone." Sonic said. "He was talking about how apparently the older me had escaped from the Death Egg."

Omega's audio receptors widened again. **"Green Hill Zone?"**

"Yeah." Tails nodded. "We were there a few weeks ago."

Omega crossed his arms. **"Are we there now?"**

Tails shook his head. "No, we're at my lab in Mystic Ruins."

"You've been out of it for a while now buddy, maybe you might wanna sit down or recharge or whatever it is you do." Sonic insisted.

" **Rest unnecessary."** Omega stated. **"This unit is functioning at 100% capacity."**

Sonic shrugged. "If you say so, big guy."

Once again, he narrowed his eyes. **"What is the status of Sunset Heights?"**

Tails frowned. "They're not doing so well."

" **The Resistance was unsuccessful?"**

Tails frowned. "Very. Sonic was defeated and I went down. Honestly, I didn't even know you were there until I found you a few weeks ago."

" **Weeks?** "

Tails nodded.

" **How long has it been since the initial battle in Sunset Heights?** "

"It's been about seven months since the beginning of the war."

At that, Omaga's eyes went wide. **"Seven months!?"**

Tails nodded.

" **What is the current status of the resistance?"**

"We don't know."

" **The Eggman Empire?"**

"They've got full control over the world."

" **Infinite?"**

"Incredibly powerful."

Omega looked down at Tails, his visual receptors narrowing into a glare. **"And we are standing here doing nothing?!"**

"I- uh…"

"Hey!" Sonic shouted. "We're gonna get out there, we're only here right now because we were fixing your broken butt."

Omega was slightly taken aback by that.

Sonic crossed his arms. "Yeah, that's right, tincan. You better show some respect to the guy that went out of his way to make sure you were fixed instead of leaving you out there in Sunset. If it were me, I would've ditched one of Eggman's busted toys but apparently we're all friends here."

Omega hung his head in shame. **"I apologize."**

Tails shook his head. "F-forget it…"

A beat of silence passed between them, Omega processing the information unsure of what exactly to do. Organics were such complicated creatures and it was clear that Tails was sad. He had been working with Rouge to be a little more knowledgeable of people's emotions. Unfortunately, he didn't do too good of a job of being tactful, but he was learning.

Tails was able to compose himself though and looked to the massive robot. "Omega, what exactly happened to you? How did you end up broken in Sunset Heights?"

Omega stared at him for a moment before answering. **"To truly understand we will have to return to just a few weeks before the war began."**

Sonic and Tails looked at each other shocked.

" **The Doctor had been quiet for an unusual amount of time and the Guardian Units of Nations had been looking into his whereabouts. Agent Shadow had been sent out on a mission to the jungles of Chunan and had returned to us. That was when it all began…"**

 **~Trials of War~**

Westopolis was another city that had its fair share of trials and tribulation when it came to the overall craziness of the world. Of course that wasn't too hard to imagine, when it housed the base of operations for the world's leading militant force and that just a few years prior was the first of many cities that had been struck by an alien invasion like the world had ever seen.

But of course, that was years ago and now, the city had been rebuilt to the hustling and bustling empire it had once been before.

For Team Dark, it was home sweet home as they had an apartment that Rouge and Shadow had agreed to rent out for the time between missions. Being top ranking agents for GUN, they had an overabundance of money with more than they knew what to do with so that made for a very nice apartment as well.

They had a pretty snazzy place for the most part. Three bedrooms, an open living room and a nice kitchenette for them wasn't bad at all.

Currently, Omega and Rouge were sitting in the living room, Rouge lazily flipping through channels on the television and Omega was busy shuffling through previously closed case files.

Silence ran throughout the humble apartment for a moment before the door opened, piquing both agents' interests only to see that it was none other than the final member of their trio, Shadow the Hedgehog.

The Hedgehog groaned and flopped onto the couch next to Rouge without so much as a glance.

"What are we watching?" He asked her.

"Federation's Got Talent. They've started the audition's phase."

Shadow groaned. "Garbage."

"Oh come on, Shadow. It's just a little fun." She laughed. "Nothing wrong with a few laughs, right?"

"No. The jokes aren't funny. It's the same old idiots trying to see who can make Fastidious Beaver burst a blood vessel and actually break out of his usual monotone. How anyone like him could ever find himself on television, I will never know."

"I like it." Rouge mused.

Shadow groaned and reached for the remote control only for Rouge to swipe it out of his hands. "Uh-uh-uh. You know the rules of this house, Shadow. I was here first."

Shadow groaned at this, looking to the television to see a human from Empire City try to do the splits only to land in a not so comfortable position that left the judges cringing while he was carried out on a stretcher.

At that, Omega perked up from where he was sitting and addressed Shadow. **"Shadow, your mission. Was it a success?"**

Shadow nodded. "Yes, I was able to infiltrate the Doctor's laboratory. Ran into a trio of fools standing guard but they were nothing I couldn't handle. You'll hear more about it when the Commander calls us in for an update."

At that, the television fizzled out from its broadcast and showed the GUN logo on the screen. "Team Dark, please report to HQ for a meeting with Commander Tower at once."

"And that would be our cue." Rouge noted as all three of them got up and raced out of the house.

 **~Trials of War~**

Now Team Dark stood at attention inside a pristine white room with a single desk at the end of it. At the far end was an electronic map of Mobius with hotspots located on it like Station Square, Westopolis, The Lost Hex, Babylon Garden and so many others across the globe. Along the walls were not only all sorts of plaques and medals detailing the history of the commander but pictures of all kinds showing him and various other agents both alive and fallen over his career as a GUN agent.

Commander Tower stood behind his desk looking on Team Dark for a few short moments before he finally spoke. "At ease, Team Dark."

At that, all of them slightly loosened up but still looked intently at the commander before them.

"Agent Shadow, I am very happy to see that you have safely returned from your mission in Chunan. I trust that you were able to at least procure some information on the Doctor's current plans?"

Shadow nodded. "I have. But admittedly, the details are still sketchy."

"Go on…"

"The Doctor appears to have been experimenting with some form of genetic research." Shadow explained. "When I arrived at his laboratory, I found various capsules with some sort of unknown substance and what appeared to be varying stages of red cubes, most of them were in varying stages of decay. None of them were in a state where I could tell what any of them were supposed to be."

Both Rouge and Commander Tower frowned at this.

"Genetic experimentation?" Rouge asked. "But the Doctor is an expert in robotics. Why would he attempt to look into something organic?"

"Even the Shadow Androids were mechanical, so this would be entirely new territory for the Doctor." Commander Tower stated.

Shadow shook his head. "I don't know. But what I do know is that so far, his attempts have been unsuccessful if the lab in Chunan is any indication."

Commander Tower put his hand to his chin in thought and turned to the robot standing before them. "Omega, has Doctor Eggman ever attempted genetic experimentation of any kind?"

" **Not that I have been informed. Doctor Eggman specializes in robotics and nothing more."**

His frown grew greater at that. "This doesn't sound right at all then, what could suddenly have piqued his interest?"

"I don't know." Shadow sighed.

"Is there anything else you found?"

"Yes." Shadow nodded. "In addition to some form of research, it appears he had been working with Hyper-go-on energy as well. Residual traces of it could be detected within the tubes."

Rouge was surprised at this. "Genetic experimentation and use of Hyper-Go-On Energy? What exactly is Eggman planning?"

" **It would explain the recent disappearance of Wisps all over the globe."** Omega stated. **"Since their arrival on the planet, they have lived peacefully and for the past month, they have been abducted from both appointed Wisp Gardens and various places in the wild."**

"And we already cleared Tails when he was testing his latest invention." The commander stated.

"Which was still ridiculous, might I add." Shadow shot back. "Tails wouldn't be abusing the wisps no matter what, they donated themselves to his Wispon experiment with consent."

"Yes, you have made that very clear, Agent Shadow." Tower pinched the ridge of his nose.

Rouge shrugged. "Can't say I blame him for knowing our friends."

The commander sighed. "Speaking of your friends, what exactly is the status of the Sonic Heroes apparent reunion?"

Shadow looked confused. "What?"

Rouge shrugged. "Sonic and the others showed up while you were away apparently planning to stop Eggman from something big."

" **We were quick to decline their invitation but asked them to keep us informed, seeing as the threat level was not enough for us to cut ties with GUN."**

"And you didn't think to tell me about this?!"

"You didn't ask."

Shadow glared at Rouge to which she simply laughed.

Commander Tower cut in. "However, I would like to know since it's not every day that Silver the Hedgehog makes an appearance."

"I'm sorry, he what?!" Shadow asked.

" **Affirmative."** Omega confirmed. **"Silver the Hedgehog was present when they arrived at our dwelling just days prior. Their group consisted of him, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles Prower, Amy Rose and Knuckles the Echidna."**

Shadow stopped dead in his tracks. "You are telling me that not only did Silver make an appearance, but Knuckles also left his island?!"

"Yeah, that's right." Rouge shrugged.

" _ **And none of you thought that this was important enough to tell me?!**_ " Shadow demanded, red chaos energy flaring around him.

Rouge shrugged. "You didn't ask."

The Chaos Energy was now wild with intensity as he was just about ready to point at Rouge. _**"Why you-"**_

And then just as quickly as it came on, it stopped and he sighed. "You know what, fine. I don't care. Whatever."

" **I sense that this bothers you."**

"What gave you that clue?"

" **Your Chaos Energy and tone of voice."**

"Omega darling, it was sarcasm." Rouge laughed.

Omega blinked. **"Oh."**

"Anyway, the reason we decided not to tell you is so that you could put full focus on your mission, Shadow." Rouge explained. "It was going to come up in the briefing so we decided then would be the best time to talk about it."

"The _Guardian of the Master Emerald_ and _Chaos' Chosen Guardian of Time and Space_ appearing at our front doorstep is of the utmost importance. I don't give a damn if I'm out fighting Perfect Chaos with my Inhibitor rings amplified to the point of giving me the strength of an infant. If both Knuckles and Silver make an appearance then I would at least like a text that they're here because that means _things are serious._ "

"Noted." Rouge simply smiled at him.

Shadow groaned.

"Agent Shadow, please." Commander Tower sighed.

"I'm done." The Ultimate Life Form grumbled.

"Now, Agent Rouge?"

"Recently, the Chaotix joined up with them." Rouge explained. "Somehow, they convinced Vector to fold without forking over huge sums of cash. Big Blue went ahead and texted me telling them that they've been shacking up in Sunset Heights these days."

The GUN commander nodded. "Interesting. We'll need to make note to keep an eye on the area, just in case."

The trio nodded at that.

Shadow snorted. "Should've known their lot would get sentimental, that's right off the coast of Green Hill."

"I'm glad you mention Green Hill Zone, Sahdow, because that is where you three will be heading for your next mission." Commander Tower stated.

Shadow raised an eyeridge while Rouge looked amused.

" **What is in Green Hill Zone, Commander?"**

Commander Tower then gestured to the electronic map behind him. "Green Hill Zone as you all know is located in South Island, just off the coast of the United Federation and the entry point for South Island. And as we are all well aware it is the site of the earliest sightings of Sonic the Hedgehog and his battles with Doctor Eggman."

"We're well aware of the history." Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Yes, however did you know that just a few days prior, it was the sight of a battle between Eggman and the Sonic Heroes and one that was lost at that?"

Shadow raised an eyeridge again.

"Eggman appeared to have used the power of some kind of gem during the battle and none of the ones that we have recorded in our databases. It was not a Chaos Emerald, a timestone or even a Sol Emerald. It was… It was something else with very concerning abilities."

"Concerning how?" Shadow asked.

"In mere moments, the gem was able to summon multiple Death Egg Robots and continued to do so until they were forced to make a retreat."

" _ **What?!"**_

Rouge nodded. "It's true. Knuckles had called it a Phantom Ruby, said that it was able to do some crazy things to the environment. He wouldn't go into detail, but apparently it was enough to make him leave his island."

" **This Phantom Ruby must be taken out of the Doctor's hands at once."** Omega stated. **"Such power must not remain in his hands!"**

"I couldn't agree more." The Commander stated. "But unfortunately, it doesn't stop there. Shortly following their battle, Doctor Eggman did something else to Green Hill Zone."

"What did he do?"

"All the water in the zone has disappeared since what we're assuming to be his last use of the Phantom Ruby."

Shadow and Rouge gasped.

"And in its place, massive pyramids as well as shipping yards have appeared. Pipes leading underground to a currently undisputed location have appeared and all sorts of resources have been directed there."

"That's very sudden of Eggman." Rouge gasped. "Just days ago, he seemed to just getting around to starting a plan and now, it seems he's ready to wage war with Sonic and his friends."

"I can't imagine the Doctor would gain such power so quickly without a final goal in mind." Shadow frowned. "We need to stop him before he can get any further."

" **A swift and total takeover of his current base will assure our success. Apprehend him and the Phantom Ruby and the rest will fall into place."**

"And that's what we're going to be doing." Commander Tower confirmed. "Something big is going on, something that could be a threat to national or even international security and you three are going to put a stop to it right here and right now. Eggman hasn't left his base in days and I imagine that Sonic's team are still licking their wounds after the last battle. So it's up to GUN to swoop in now and Team Dark is going to do it."

"Understood." Shadow nodded.

"Your mission is simple, go into the main pyramid in Green Hill Zone, destroy absolutely everything in sight and make sure to stop him by any and all means necessary."

"Yes, Commander!" All three stated.

 **~Trials of War~**

"Wait, so you're telling me that you guys went swooping in right after the Battle of Green Hill?" Tails asked.

" **Affirmative."** Omega stated. **"Team Dark was quick to strike Arsenal Pyramid, apprehend Doctor Eggman and seize the Phantom Ruby."**

Sonic frowned. "The Phantom Ruby again, you guys know of it?"

" **Yes. It was stated to be the gem that allowed Eggman to seize control of the world and since then Infinite has been its wielder."**

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, I don't like that one bit. The Phantom Ruby is the same thing that dragged me from my time and here into the future."

" **I was waiting on when to incur, but you clearly are not the Sonic of our time."** Omega asked.

Sonic shook his head. "Nuh-uh, I'm the same guy from back on the little birthday bash incident way back when."

" **I was not present for that. But it is clear that a biological scan shows that you are only twelve years old and nowhere near your current strength."**

Sonic rolled his eyes and smirked. "Maybe not, but I'm plenty strong and am learning all sorts of new moves every day."

Omega blinked at this.

At that Sonic deflated a little.

Tails then spoke up. "Sooooonic… Can you remind us how exactly you ended up here again? I'm having a little trouble remembering most of the details. You said that it had to do with the Phantom Ruby?"

"Yeah." Sonic nodded. "You had been all big about some sort of strange energy coming from Angel Island, we got there but it looked like Eggman got there first. They unearthed the Phantom Ruby and then things got weird. Not only did they change his robots into entirely different machines but it sent you, me and Knux on a wild adventure teleporting us to all kinds of places. Along the way, I gathered the seven Chaos Emeralds and I fought off both Eggman and his head robot and kept them from getting the Phantom Ruby on Titanic Monarch. I won and was about to nab the ruby only for it to just kinda grab me, pull me out of my super form and into a portal. Next thing I know, I'm in front of you and Omega fighting off that big drip Chaos."

Tails looked at him confusedly.

"You really don't remember any of that?" Sonic asked.

Tails looked hard in thought, trying to figure things out. But with the look of the smaller hedgehog, he quickly corrected himself. "Of course I do! It- It was just a long time ago and… and… I'm just having trouble remembering. We really need all the information if we're gonna figure out this mystery."

Sonic frowned at this, only to be cut off by Omega.

" **If I am not mistaken, we can assume that some sort of reaction was formed when the Phantom Ruby interacted with the Chaos Emeralds of the past, resulting in a tear in the fabric of time that brought you to the present."**

"Sounds legit." Sonic shrugged. "Do you think that the Phantom Ruby has the ability to travel through time or was that only because of the emeralds?"

"Hard to tell at this point." Tails frowned. "All we know is that the Ruby can sort of change reality to whatever the user desires."

" **Such power is far too dangerous for the likes of Doctor Eggman."**

"Couldn't agree more, bud. I thought it was bad with my Eggman, but it looks like yours has seriously made a mess of things with the Phantom Ruby."

"And now it's in the hands of Infinite." Tails furrowed his brow.

" **Infinite…"** Omega droned.

"Something on your mind, Omega?" Tails asked.

" **I think it is best I continue telling my story."** Omega stated.

Tails rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile. "Oh right. We kinda got sidetracked with the ruby. Please… continue, Omega."

The bot nodded.

 **~Trials of War~**

Beautiful Green Hill Zone, a tropical paradise for all and the site of Sonic the Hedgehog's first encounter with Doctor Eggman. The sun was up and shining, wind was slightly swaying the trees and the flakey striped grass along the ground and the hard checkerboard rocks as well.

Unfortunately, true to the Commander's word, none of the great wide sea was there in the zone and instead, they were left with desserts as far as the eyes could see that were already taking their effect on the place's landscapes.

But Team Dark paid no mind to that, racing past all of it to make their way to the stage to the beginning of the Doctor's triumph.

Shadow called in on his communicator on his wrist. "Team Dark, en route and approaching the Arsenal Pyramid."

"Good." The Commander responded. "Our scans are showing massive surges of energy currently being drawn into the pyramid from various known Egg Bases around the world, something big is happening right here and right now."

Rouge frowned. "What could Doctor Eggman be up to that would use that much power?"

"I don't know." Shadow frowned. "But I know that we're going to put a stop to it no matter what."

" **Destruction will be swift! The threat will be eliminated!"** Omega announced.

Rouge smiled. "That's the spirit, Omega!"

"Let's show the good doctor what happens when he steps out of line." Shadow smirked.

With that, the trio made their way through Green Hill before they arrived at their destination, Arsenal Pyramid.

Arsenal Pyramid was true to its name, a massive pyramid that went high into the sky before them, sitting in what would've been the sea of Green Hill Zone, but was nothing more than a desolate desert before them. A single road had been put into place, leading straight into the pyramid and around them were several shipping containers of all shapes and sizes. Several hover vehicles were seen moving about the premises carrying the boxes and a mess of Egg Pawns could be seen around as well. Some were piloting the vehicles, others were holding glowing lights and waving traffic signs all around, some had clipboards and were taking inventory and others were simply walking around, minding their own business.

Team Dark took stand behind one of the boxes and scanned the area.

"Okay, so it looks like this place is littered with Eggpawns." Rouge surmised. "It looks like we've got a straight path to the pyramid, but I think we're going to need to be stealthy to get inside. Do you think you can handle that, guys?"

Except Shadow and Omega weren't standing next to her anymore. The bat whipped her head in all directions only to get her answer about their whereabouts.

" _ **Death to all Eggman Robots!"**_ Omega bellowed, followed by the sounds of gunfire.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted.

Rouge's face twisted into a scowl at that before she facepalmed. "Chaos! Can we have one mission where we don't drop in with heavy heat?"

At that she stepped out from behind the box hiding spot only for an Eggpawn to fire at her and force her back into her hiding spot.

Rouge sighed and looked to her side, noting that she was in fact equipped with her bombs.

Rouge flew the air and deployed bombs on the unsuspecting Eggpawns below, blowing them to bits and careful not to hit Shadow or Omega.

Omega on the other hand, had his arms formed into machine guns, firing rounds at Eggpawns that tried to return fire but to no avail as the Robot's shots were far faster and stronger, tearing through them like paper.

Shadow on the other hand was literally untouchable as he made his way all over the field, firing Chaos spears, homing into, spindashing and using Chaos control to bash and crash his way through all the robots, really putting a lot of pride into his title as the Ultimate Life Form.

Rouge looked at Shadow and simply rolled her eyes. "Showoff…"

It wasn't long until the robots were cleared and a smoldering pile of wreckage was left in Team Dark's wake.

They all converged at the front of the massive pyramid, ready to get into the sliding door that would open for them.

Rouge landed just as Omega and Shadow walked up to it, glaring at the two. "You two don't know the meaning of the word subtle, do you?"

"What's that?" Shadow smirked at her to which she groaned.

" **Subtlety is for the weak, the best approach is showing the enemy any and all brute strength."** Omega retorted.

"I hate you both." Rouge sighed as the door to the pyramid slid open and the trio stepped inside.

When they got in, they found themselves in a pitch black room where they couldn't see a single thing and the door slammed shut behind them.

"That's not a good sign…" Rouge mused.

"Omega, lights, now!" Shadow barked.

" _ **MULTIPLE HOSTILES DETECTED, TWO HIGH LEVEL THREATS IN BOUND!"**_ The robot replied instead.

The two organic members of the team were shocked at this and immediately went on their guard, both with their fists raised and behind the metal hull of the robot.

Suddenly, two glowing magenta irises pierced through the darkness along with two green egg shaped ones.

And at that, the lights immediately flickered on with a loud thud.

All three members of Team Dark were shocked at what they saw.

Strange cream colored Eggpawn like robots each with their blaster arms trained at them, caused their eyes to widen. But if that wasn't bad enough then standing at the head of the group was Metal Sonic and Chaos itself.

"Oh…" Rouge gaped.

"Damn." Shadow finished.

At that, the PA system came to life and Eggman's voice was heard all around them. "Ohohohohoho! Welcome to Arsenal Pyramid! If you're hearing this message then I'm going to assume that you are here in an attempt to stop me just before the eve of my greatest triumph. Well, sorry to rain on your parade, but no one and I mean _no one_ is getting close. Not when I've come so far! Before you are the newest additions to my army, the Eggpongs, different from your garden variety Eggpawns with their hard shells and lasers built right into their hands; joining them is Metal Sonic who has been outfitted with the latest and greatest in weaponry and of course; I'm sure everyone is familiar with Chaos. Friends, foes, hopefully Sonic, this is the end for you and as soon as this recording ends, they're going to fire everything they've got at you. I'd say it's been a pleasure but I'd be lying if it was."

At that, the message stopped but nothing happened, making all of them confused only for the voice to chime in again. "Now that was a great take, did you get all of that Cubot?"

"You bet boss!"

"Good, I can't wait to see the face of whoever dares come through that door. What fools!"

"Haha, you really are the man, boss!"

"But of course, and I have the master pla- Wait, turn that off! Orbot, you better edit that out when we're uploading that."

"Eh… if I remember…."

And at that, the recording turned off and immediately, all the robots in the room snapped to life.

At that, lasers fired on Team Dark resulting in what should have been their absolute destruction.

Of course, a quick thinking hedgehog made sure that that was not the case. _**"Chaos Control!"**_ He roared as he grabbed hold of both his friends, disappearing in a flash of light.

The two reappeared just above both where Metal and Chaos were standing and Omega was forced to fall to the ground on top of the two.

At that, Shadow leapt on top of Omega and used him to bound over the group and into the fray. He started things off by firing off multiple Chaos Spears in a star formation, hitting all kinds of Eggpongs around, before beginning to use multiple chained Homing Attacks all around the room.

While Omega fell on top of the two generals, unfortunately for Team Dark, Chaos was able to slip out from underneath his grasp by going into puddle form and slinking around the room. Quickly, it reformed and saw Rouge flying around and dropping bombs on unsuspecting Eggpongs.

He reached out to her, wrapping a hand around her leg to which the bat gasped and tried desperately to kick him off but to no avail.

Using this, Chaos flung her across the room and into a pile of Eggpongs before going back into puddle form and sliding up to where she was.

As for Omega, the gargantuan robot was not enough to keep Metal Sonic down as slowly but steadily, he was able to lift Omega over his head.

Omega switched his hands back into machine gun mode and fired at the sky, attempting to use the force to bring Metal Sonic down under him. For a short bit, it worked as it was forcing Metal Sonic to at least balk a bit under pressure. **"Unhand me at once, inferior copy of Sonic the Hedgehog!"**

At that, Metal's eyes only grew brighter in righteous fury. In a burst of strength, he was able to completely lift Omega over his head before he turned on his thrusters, sending them both skyward before throwing Omega high into the air.

Omega came back down and Metal grabbed him by the hand, spinning him around at rapid speeds before he finally let go and chucked him down to the ground and inevitably, destroyed some of his Eggpong companions that were standing alongside him.

Chaos slinked over to where he had thrown Rouge, the pile of busted robot parts stood completely still to which the God of destruction looked confusedly at them.

All was silent for a moment until Rouge came springing out of the pile, delivering a roundhouse directly to Chaos' brain and knocking him aside.

She grinned at this only for the water deity to come slinking right back at her, fist enlarged and at the ready to grab her again. But this time, she was ready jumping up into the air and flying around the room, making sure to drop bombs not only on the Eggpongs around them but on Chaos as well.

The force of the bombs split Chaos apart, leaving him no choice for him to regather himself, making it more and more difficult for him to deal with for her.

But when she took focus on the robots around the room, allowed him to grab her and bring her to him.

Chaos glared Rouge down at this to which she sheepishly smiled. "Uh… hi?"

Going back to Metal, he was ready to face down Omega and raced up to the robot as he slowly got to his feet. Kicking on the power of the boost, he approached him, or at least would have had it not been for Shadow stepping in, surrounded in his own aura and ramming the bot off course.

Metal veered to a stop only to face bullet rain from Omega's machine gun arm. But this only seemed to irritate the metal doppelganger rather than do any harm as he advanced on him.

Shadow however, blipped into existence by Omega's side and proceeded to fire off Chaos Spears at Metal and this forced him to attack, firing off violent orbs of electricity that would meet each Chaos Spear and cause it dissipate into nothing.

Shadow growled at this, doing his best to try and fend off Metal, but it was hopeless.

Omega decided to take matters into his own hands, producing a rocket from his chest that landed at Metal's feet.

It exploded in a blast of fire that encompassed the robot.

Shadow gave Omega a pat on the back at that, congratulating him for a good job.

That is, until Metal came surging out of the fire at high speeds and knocking into Shadow.

" **Shadow!"** Omega called out, to which he spun around as quickly as he could, leveling his arm, now with its laser gun form towards Metal.

But he could not fire as Shadow and Metal Sonic were seen grappling with one another, with the both of them close together, he couldn't risk friendly fire. So he took to firing at the surrounding robots instead, keeping a close eye on Shadow and Metal while they duked it out away from him.

With Rouge and Chaos, the water deity elected to hang her upside down by her feet. "Now is this about the whole constantly trying to steal the Master Emerald thing? Because I have a perfectly good reason for that."

Chaos looked at her confusedly, not having really any idea what she was talking about at all.

So instead, the Water monster brought her close to him, to which she desperately tried to worm her way out of its grasp.

And just when he was about to do something, Shadow and Metal crashed into him, making him lose form and drop Rouge to the ground.

She was able to land on her feet and just as Shadow was able to send a roundhouse into Metal's face, knocking him right into where Chaos, who had just tried to reform.

Omega joined them as Team Dark stood together.

But they were interrupted by multiple flashes of red light along with the sound of distortion ringing out within their ears.

Rouge frowned. "That must be Eggman, he's up to something big!"

"We have to get there before it's too late!" Shadow shouted. "If we allow the Doctor to finish his experiments, then all could be lost."

" **Yes but multiple obstacles still lie in bound."** Omega explained.

At that Metal and Chaos rose to their feet as well and glared down Team Dark, prepared to attack again.

The team stood primed and ready only for a flash of light to shine out again and the dark cackles of the doctor to ring out.

It was Metal who sprung to his feet first, flying directly towards Shadow, only for Rouge to jump up and send a powerful roundhouse that knocked him away.

Metal didn't waste much time racing back towards Rouge, to which she quickly met him and grabbed both of his arms to fend him off.

Shadow was about to step up and lend her a hand, but Rouge stopped him dead in his tracks. "Shadow, leave now!"

"Wha-what?!"

"You heard me! Go and take care of Eggman! Omega and I can hold these two off."

"But-"

"Go, Shadow!"

Shadow growled, but nodded at her before disappearing in a flash of light.

At that, Metal finally got the upper hand and was able to throw Rouge into Omega's back.

Omega in the meantime, was firing roungs from his machine gun at an oncoming Chaos.

" **Rouge! Are you alright?!"** Omega shouted, taking notice away from Chaos and focusing on his downed friend.

Rouge slowly rose to her feet. "I'm fine, Omega. Focus on the battle."

The robot nodded at her and pointed his machine gun arms at Metal Sonic, firing on him. But like before, it did very little, seamlessly bouncing off his metal shell as if nothing happened at all.

Seeing that this still was ineffective, he switched to the laser pointer and would've fired, if not for Chaos grabbing both of Omega's arms and pulled, forcing his arms back and away from them.

Luckily for him, he had Rouge right by his side as she got out of her stupor and kicked through Chaos' limbs, causing them to dissipate and for the robot to regain control of his arms.

Rouge chucked another one of her bombs at Chaos, but this time he was ready, sliding away from where she had thrown before lunging out at her.

Omega fired a laser at the approaching Metal Sonic and to his surprise, it left a scorch mark on his arm.

Furious, the robot charged Omega, claws drawn and ready to work.

With both of the big bosses approaching them, Rouge and Omega looked each other in the eye and gave each other a curt nod.

Rouge reached an arm out towards Omega and Omega did the same to Rouge. With more speed, that none even knew Omega could muster, he was able to swing Rouge around so that she faced and was able to kick Metal Sonic in the face while he moved to where Rouge was standing and shot a laser at Chaos brain.

The two were knocked back and forced to gain their bearings again.

At that, Rouge gave Omega a high five. "Aw yeah!"

" **Switcheroo maneuver a success!"** Omega declared with a raised fist.

There was another flash of red light, this one lasting far longer than the last, causing them to look up in fear and confusion.

Unfortunately for them, the good times didn't last long as the two had found themselves thrown off their feet by the roughest of waves forming into an actual wave, knocking them off their feet.

Omega was completely useless in the water as his systems would immediately work to keep it out in any and all ways possible, turning on fans, vents and keeping any and all airspaces from getting clogged. It was one flaw in Eggman's programming that they had never really needed to fix with few missions involving water, but with Chaos here that exploit was very well met. And for Rouge, being submerged in such waters didn't do well for her wings, effectively grounding her.

This gave Metal the advantage he needed to fly into the air and fire his electric balls of energy at them.

This quickly shocked Rouge and Omega, causing the former to shout and the latter to convulse before the attack finally ended.

Chaos reformed on the ground, sucking up all the water from the room, causing the two to drop to the floor.

At that, Metal landed in a crouch, creating a shockwave of energy to add insult to injury.

And he approached them.

But stopped dead in his tracks as Shadow the Hedgehog reappeared before them in a flash of light.

"Shadow!" Rouge and Omega cried out.

But the Hedgehog didn't answer them. Instead, he glared down Metal and Chaos causing them to look confusedly at one another before continuing their advancement towards the team.

"Chaos, Metal, stand down." The voice of Doctor Eggman announced, surprising both Rouge and Omega.

"Eggman?!"

" **Doctor?!"**

At that, the Doctor appeared on his Eggmobile and floated down to them, giving off his usual Cheshire grin. "The one and only."

At that, a new figure floated down next to him. It was a jackal with sleek jet black fur, save for a white tipped tail, he was wearing shoes that matched the color of his fur, lined with steel for extra protection along with sharp tipped gloves. On his head was a silver mask, one with the eye blackened out and the other with red glass on top to reveal nothing put a single yellow eye. On his chest, was a red tetrahedral gem. They didn't know who he was at the time, but it was none other than Infinite.

"I- Eggman?! Who is that?" Rouge sputtered.

Eggman looked over at Infinite and back at the bat. "Him? Why he's only the key to my victory of course? Who else would it be?"

" **New hostile detected. Origin unknown. Alliance: Doctor Eggman. Threat level 10."** Omega announced. **"Conclusion: Eliminate new foe at once!"**

Omega raised his arm only for it to sputter and crack. **"Weapons systems offline. Power reserved for maintenance."**

Shadow looked away from him and simply stated. "Omega, don't."

" **Shadow…?"**

"Omega, you and Rouge need to leave immediately." Shadow stated.

Rouge looked confused. "Leave?! What?!"

" **Unacceptable. Mission Status incomplete."**

"I didn't ask." Shadow growled at them. "I said leave _now._ "

"What?! And what about you?!"

Shadow just looked away from them.

At that, Eggman perked up. "Shadow has decided that he wants to take his place on the winning team, right by my side."

"You must be joking."

" **Shadow would never join you."**

Shadow screwed his eyes shut not saying anything at all.

" _Shadow…?"_ Rouge looked up at him but he simply did not respond.

"I think we've had enough of this." Eggman rolled his eyes. "Would you like to test out your new powers? Send them home. Gift wrapped for Commander Tower."

The masked figure nodded and held out a hand in front of him.

Rouge and Omega, too weak to do anything at this point could only watch as the sound of distortion rang out and the world flashed around them.

When it stopped, to their shock and surprise, Omega was strapped down to Commander Tower's desk with Rouge on top of him. Both were tied down with rope and a button that showed the Eggman logo.

Commander Tower jumped at the sudden shock only to look down at the logo tying them down.

" _What the heck happened?!"_

 **Review Replies:**

 **Alexandria Prime:  
Hope this and the next chapter will satisfy that. **

**tekina fiction:  
The Babylon Rogues have the right priorities in these times of war.  
Her princess crown. Lol. She has a Queen one now.  
Thanks, pal.**

 **DracoFrogg:  
I don't know. Maybe. Read and find out.**

 **KelWelPower:  
Been waiting so long to introduce my beloved Babylon Rogues and it was so nice to finally write them here.  
We've finally finished the first part of their arc and I'm so excited to where I'm gonna take them next, but for now, we've got Omega's tale to share and we're only halfway done with his story. Excited to share the rest.  
Thanks so much for the continued support!**

 **TheGameNGuyner:  
Brothers? Never heard of them. We only have Sonic and Tails in this house.  
The Rogues got their own things to do. While they have helped in the past, they're not exactly heroes and if it's not a direct danger to them or they don't have a reason to care then ¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯  
Yeah, Episode Omega is mostly Omega's perspective during Episode Shadow and well… we won't be touching on Shadow's perspective for a while. A bit of a pre-war gap to fill with Team Dark that we'll be getting into as we move forward. But as for Tails, he still has his issues, he's still sad but he's making his own way. I'll be touching more on him a bit as we move forward especially with what I have planned for this arc and beyond.  
I'm really making you all wait for that reunion. Lol. It's far away and it kills me as much as it kills all of you, but I promise that it's gonna be a huge moment. So much is leading to the reunion between Sonic and Tails and I'm so excited to get there. I feel like I'm talking about the reunion in almost every chapter, lol. We're still nowhere close. I definitely will give your rewrite a look, but fair warning between life and the impossibly long list of fanfiction I need to read it's going to be a **_**very long while**_ **until I get to it. But know that you're on my list and I do promise to get to you** _ **eventually.**_ **  
But thank you so much for the continued support and I look forward to your thoughts on this chapter.**

 **Guest1:  
Thank you for the continued support.  
And to clarify, I'm not making this a YouTube show, however I did say if I had the resources both art and stuff like that I would.**

 **The Sensational SpiderDom321:  
Lol. Chill out, spiderboy. But your concerns have been noted among others who have asked and that's why this is a two parter.  
Thanks. And I'm glad that my story reminded you a bit of your own. Great minds think alike!  
Starline was a little but not really inspired by Awakened. Tangle and Whisper definitely were, but for Starline, he was a bit more I had ideas and I decided to place them in. However, I was definitely more comfortable with putting in comic characters after your inspiration for Tangle and Whisper went over so well.  
Thanks for the support as always, man.**

 **Guest2:  
Babylon Rogues aren't really evil. But they're also not really good either. Anti-villains? Anti-villains. I mean, when it comes down to it, they're willing to save the day and really just want cash. So Wave being chill with Tails here is coming from that.  
Thanks so much for the support!**

 **TheKazostkyKicker:  
Thank you!**

 **Infinite's Ruby:  
No worries, life happens and I'm just glad to see you here and enjoying my work.  
Cream is a gift and there will definitely be more of her to come.  
Starline's gonna be fun.  
Thanks so much!**

 **Guest3:  
Truthfully, things work a little differently in Metropolis. The main reason I did Infinite being a little shy in front of the camera is I thought it would be funny. Generally, the majority of the segment was meant to be on the more comical side than anything. However, I do see where you're coming from and you make good points. I'll keep this in mind when writing Infinite in more scenes.  
I really appreciate the constructive criticism. Thank you. **

**Guest4:  
People have asked me this a few times. I'm going to say that you'll have to read and find out. Asking me questions like if anyone's gonna die or really spoiler questions aren't gonna get answers and I'm just acknowledging it this time to give the statement that I'm not going to answer them.**

 **And that'll do for the current chapter of Trials of War, you'll most be getting part two of this chapter within the week since I've pretty much got most of it written save for the last flashback and the ending which will lead us into the next part of The Classic arc.**

 **Next one will be talking about the fall of GUN and a bit of what happened to Sunset Heights.**

 **Can't wait to hear some of your changed opinions about why Shadow is fighting now. I wanna see if someone gets it right.**

 **Oh yeah, and I know I said I wouldn't bring back Metal, but woohoo! Flashbacks let me get past that. So hope this did satisfy some Metal Sonic fans.**

 **Also, we're at 188 reviews, can we hit 200 after Episode Omega Part 2?**

 **So until then, R &R and I'll see you guys in a few days.**


	19. Chapter 18: Episode Omega Part 2

**I don't really have much to say here this time so let's just get into it with Episode Omega Part 2!**

 **Trials of War: A Sonic Forces Rewrite  
Chapter 18:  
Episode Omega Part 2**

Sonic and Tails looked at one another in shock at this.

"Wha-what did you tell him?" Sonic asked.

" **We explained to him what had occurred including Shadow's betrayal."** Omega explained. He looked down sadly at that. _**"Shadow…"**_

Tails tentatively put a hand on the robot's shoulder.

" **Is he still aligned with Doctor Eggman?"** He asked.

Tails sighed. "We don't know Omega. Last I saw him, he was with Eggman destroying Sunset Heights."

Omega stood up again. **"Sunset Heights fell? We were not able to save it?"**

Tails shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Omega."

" **Eggman has become a more viable threat than we ever had ever anticipated. First GUN fell and then Sunset, now he has control over the entire world. We must stop him at any and all costs."**

"And we will." Sonic said, punching his open palm. "Now that we've got you all fixed up, there's nothing standing between us and taking on Eggman."

"But first finish your story, Omega." Tails stated. "What exactly happened to GUN?"

" **It fell."** Omega stated. **"The attack began a few days after that at 0200 hours. Rouge and I had been staying late finishing up paperwork concerning the mission to Green Hill Zone."**

 **~Trials of War~**

Rouge and Omega sat huddled in a tiny cubicle while Rouge clacked away on a laptop, detailing the events that had transpired a few days prior.

Team Dark hadn't been doing so well. Shadow still hadn't come home, Rouge had been staying up at odd hours waiting for him and poor Omega didn't really know what to do.

But currently, the two sat quietly in the room while Rouge typed away.

All was silent for some moments before Omega spoke up. **"Rouge…"**

"Yes, Omega?"

" **I am concerned."**

"About Shadow?"

" **Yes. But my concern is more towards you at the moment."**

"Me?"

" **Yes. Since Shadow's betrayal, you have been eating less, working harder, have gotten less than ten hours of sleep in the course of three days and in my limited ability to read emotions, even I can see that you have not been yourself."**

Rouge looked away from him. "I'm doing fine, Omega. You're just not reading me correctly."

" **Wrong."** Omega simply stated. **"I may not be able to read most, but in these years we have spent together, I have come to learn your basic habits. Shadow's as well. I know that you are acting unusual."**

Rouge chuckled. "Heh, well aren't you the detective."

" **I am not a detective. I am E123 Omega, the world's most powerful robot and Agent of GUN."**

Rouge sighed. "I know, sweetie. I was being sarcastic."

" **Even so, these roles still hold true for me, for among all of them, I am also a member of Team Dark and a friend of Rouge the Bat and Shadow the Hedgehog. Friends help one another and I want to help you."**

Rouge couldn't help but smile at that. "Oh, Omega. People may think you're nothing but a cold machine, but I know that you've got a heart gold."

Omega responded with a pat to her back, to which she smiled more.

"I- I- it's just Shadow." Rouge sighed. "I can't believe he would leave us like that and with absolutely no words, no hints, just siding with Eggman like it was nothing. I just wanna know what's going on with him, you know?"

Omega nodded. **"Yes, Shadow's betrayal was a very strange occurrence. One that even I am trying to figure out each day, but to no avail."**

"Story of our lives isn't it?" Rouge chuckled. "Shadow runs off somewhere and we're left wondering where and why."

" **This time unfortunately, we know where he's run to, but the why is the biggest question."**

Rouge nodded. "I'm just worried about him is all. He sounded like he was all there but you don't think he would leave us, do you? You don't think that he's gone rogue on us for real this time do you?"

Omega shook his head. **"Shadow the Hedgehog is many things. But he is not a traitor. Whatever he may be doing, I am sure he has his reasoning."**

"I just wish he would trust us with whatever it might be." Rouge sighed.

" **Yes. It is like him to go off without a word."**

Rouge smiled at her friend at this. But unfortunately, that smile was short lived. Red flashing lights appeared all around them and sirens blared.

Both of them looked around in shock and confusion.

" _Red alert! Red alert! GUN HQ is under attack! Repeat. Red alert! Red alert! GUN HQ is under attack!"_

Rouge and Omega looked at one another at this but gave each other curt nods putting aside any of their mixed emotions to focus on the task at hand.

They ran out of the cubicle only to see humans and Mobians alike running around in panic. Since most of these agents were part of the intelligence division and didn't have intensive combat oriented training, there was nothing they could do except try to evacuate the premises.

Rouge and Omega pushed their way through the crowd, making their way out of the offices before they made it into the long winding halls of GUN HQ.

Those same strange Eggman robots that they had encountered within Arsenal Pyramid were parading down the halls, but the two made quick work of any that came in their sights. They had one destination in their mind and that was of course, Central Command.

It wasn't long before they arrived. Normally Central Command was a room lined with computers where communications and intelligence experts would be making contact with GUN agents across the globe, a giant screen would be at the end of the room showing a map of Mobius with all kinds of hotspots lit up for them and at the other end, was an observation deck for the Commander Tower to overlook everything and make calls where he needed to. But instead, the screen at the end of the room was cracked and fizzling out, the rows of computers were strewn across the room, with multiple agents crouched behind them, some form of weaponry out in front of them pointed at their adversaries. Commander Tower stood atop the observation deck, his own pistol pointed dangerously at Infinite and a cheeky Doctor.

Rouge and Omega were quick to hide behind one of the tables as well.

"You're quite bashful to be showing up on my territory, daring to order me, Doctor Eggman." Commander Tower growled.

But the Doctor couldn't help but laugh. "What can I say, when you're going for conquest on a global scale, you wanna make sure that some of the world's bigger fish are taken out of the picture."

"I'd expect you to go after Sonic first then, I should be flattered that you took the time to remember us."

"You should watch your tongue when speaking to the master!" Infinite barked.

Commander Tower scoffed. "I will say what I want and do as I please. You forget whose territory you're on."

"Which is currently being destroyed as we speak. Your agents may be able to handle an Egg Pong or two but my Generals are storming this base too. Do you trust GUN to stand up to the likes of the world's most powerful robot, the leader of the Deadly Six, The Ultimate Lifeform, the God of Destruction and a power that you know absolutely nothing about? Heck, when you add in my devilish good looks and a brain so big that it makes all your scientists look like preschoolers, it doesn't look like you have good odds, Commander.

"Just say what you want, Doctor."

"A guy who cuts to the chase, I like that. No wonder they put you in charge, Abe."

He glared at him once more, completely unamused.

"It's quite simple really. I want the complete surrender of GUN and their allegiance to the Eggman Empire."

"Oh, is that so?"

"That's right."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then the assault continues."

"Well then, I think my answer is obvious…" A beat passed, there was dead silence in the room. _"Open fire!"_

Immediately everyone in the room, including Rouge and Omega fired directly at Eggman and Infinite. But Eggman simply laughed as his associate activated the ruby on his chest. A pulse of energy erupted from the gem and sent the bullets flying in a multitude of directions.

But if only it were just the bullets that were effected, most of the agents were thrown in odd directions as well. Omega was luckily quick to shield Rouge taking the brunt of the blast so she didn't have to. Commander Tower was also thrown off his feet and hit the wall behind him hard.

Before he could drop to his feet, Infinite was quick to advance him, grabbing his by his collar and hoisting him up into the air. The commander grit his teeth in pain, as he eyed the jackal.

"Commander!" Many of the people around the room shouted.

"The Master does not make offers so gracious very often. I suggest you listen to him this time before I make you regret this decision."

He raised his free hand to his face, an orb of energy primed and ready to do him in.

"So what will it be, Commander?"

" **Extermination!"** Omega declared, as he fired a laser at Infinite, that struck his side and forced the jackal into the wall.

At that, Rouge sprang into action and flew up to where, the commander fell, grabbing hold of his hand and making their way down to the floor.

There, she was quickly met by Lieutenant Topaz, who had risen from where she had fallen and helped the Commander up.

Infinite faced Infinite and glared at Omega and proceeded to race towards him.

"Stop!" Eggman shouted at him.

He looked to see multiple guns pointed in his direction. They fired and with the swipe of a hand, all was frozen in place except for him and Eggman. They all could only watch what unfolded.

"It's clear that they've made their decision. But you're done for now. You successfully infiltrated the GUN HQ and launched an attack. I'm proud that another test of your power has been a success, but even then, I don't want your first true triumph to be wasted on these lowlifes, no. You're going to take _him_ down."

"But Master, I can destroy them all right here and now. Easily." Infinite insisted.

"No buts, Infinite. Right now."

Infinite sighed. "Yes, Master…"

With a flash of the ruby, he was gone.

Commander Tower rose to his feet, grunting as Topaz helped him up.

A younger soldier approached. "What do we do now Commander?"

He grunted in response, careful to find his footing. He looked the soldier in the eyes and waited as everyone gathered around. Once everyone was present, he spoke. "Agent Joseph raises an excellent question. What do we do now? Well, I think the answer is obvious. Eggman has decided to attack our home base and quite frankly, I don't give a damn if he stays and watches or decides to throw a tea party in the courtyard. We're going to take it back."

An orange deer Mobian shook at that. "B-b-but what if we're not fit for combat?"

"Remember your basic training, stay away from major threats and evacuate if you have the chance."

A large green furred ox then stepped up. "And if we fail?"

"We won't." He assured, turning around cocking his own pistol before exiting the room.

The different agents looked around for a moment, unsure of what to do before they scattered around the facility, doing their best to ward off the attack.

Rouge and Omega made their way down a hall, fighting their way through robots that they came across.

But it wasn't long until they faced him.

Rouge and Omega rounded a corner only to come face to face with Shadow the Hedgehog.

For a moment none of them, even Omega, knew what to do. The trio stood in stunned silence as they just watched one another. It had only been a few short days but it was as if they were strangers in that very instance.

But that silence broke when E123 Omega stepped forward. **"Shadow."**

He immediately put his hands up in surrender. "Omega, stop. I don't want to fight you."

But the robot kept walking towards him.

True to his word though, Shadow kept his hands up, not daring to move a muscle. Halfway through his advancement, he screwed his eyes shut and braced himself for impact. But instead of feeling the force of some sort of attack from the robot, he felt his familiar comforting hand on his shoulder. Well, as comforting as metal claws powerful enough to rip apart steel could be. Still, the robot looked him calmly in the eyes and asked him an important question. **"What are you doing?"**

Shadow blinked and looked up into the eyes of the robot, absolute shock on his face. But there was E123 Omega, who would normally be furious with him for his betrayal was instead calm and asking questions.

"Wuh-what!?"

" **What are you doing?"**

"I'm confused, you're not attacking me…?"

At that Rouge walked over. "Of course we're not going to attack you! Friends don't hurt each other."

" **And I am correct to incur that we are still friends?"**

"O-of course." Shadow stammered.

" **Then I think we have the right to ask as your friends, what you are doing? Why have you sided with Doctor Eggman."**

Shadow hung his head down in shame. "I'm not proud of what I've done. Really, I should be here trying to defend the Head Quarters with all of you."

"You still can, Shadow. Come on, you can come back to us and we can turn all this around together!"

"No!" Shadow barked. "I can't. I-I'm sorry…" His voice cracked. "Information has been brought to me that… that's required me to take things from this side."

"What could possibly do that."

Shadow looked away from her and simply stated, "It's personal."

Rouge frowned. "What could possibly be so much that you would side with Eggman?"

"Can't say."

"Shadow…"

"I said it's not important." Shadow barked.

At that, Rouge was slightly taken aback, and his own eyeridges at that. But this was quickly shaken off. "Look, that isn't important right now. The important thing is that you two need to get out of here right now."

"You've gotta be kidding me. You're kicking us out again?!"

" **Such behavior is unacceptable and very belittling of your friends."**

Shadow shook his head. "No, you don't understand. GUN is going to fall and I don't want to see you two getting hurt."

"We can handle ourselves!"

" **I am the world's most powerful robot."**

"I know. I know you're both very capable, but in this case, Eggman will succeed and he has great big plans." Shadow explained.

"What?"

"Eggman is going to attack Sunset Heights shortly after he's done with GUN. It's going to be something big. His main target is Sonic and just about anyone else he can get his hands on. But he's planning to make a big show out of all of it."

" **We cannot allow this to happen."**

"You need to get there and warn the others before the attack starts. Keep Sonic away from the city before it's too late."

"Not staying here and defending GUN would go against orders…" Rouge muttered.

"Since when have you ever cared about that?" Shadow smirked.

Rouge went in for a hug. "I don't know what's going on with you and I'm probably going to ask again. But please, stay safe."

Shadow returned the gesture and smiled. "I promise. You too."

" **New objective acquired: Inform The Resistance of Eggman's oncoming attack."**

Shadow smiled at them. "Go. Don't look back. Keep running. And I promise I won't hurt you in this next part, but we have to make this look real."

The two nodded and began to run off.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted.

Random projectiles hit the walls around them, but didn't dare come close to the two.

With this, they were able to escape. They had a long way to go from Westopolis all the way down to Sunset Heights. But they had to if they were to ward off what was to come.

 **~Trials of War~**

" **GUN did fall that day and the whereabouts of our comrades are unknown."** Omega explained.

Sonic shook his head. "But we do know where the other members of GUN are, some of them anyway."

Omega perked up at this. **"You do?"**

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, some of them were able to make it out alive and ended up in this sort of secret Station Square base with the president. There's an entire refugee camp down there and everything."

"Apparently there are others stationed in other similar secret bases all over."

" **While I cannot confirm or deny the existence of said bases to civilians-"**

"Figures." Tails rolled his eyes.

"Yo, did you just call me a civili-"

" **I am grateful to know that some of my comrades are safe. Thank you."**

"Sure thing, Omega." Tails smiled.

Sonic cut in. "But no, I'm confused. Sunset Heights was still attacked, I saw Ghost Town when I got here. So if Shadow warned you guys of the attack, how come the others weren't ready?"

Omega looked down. **"We were too late."**

 **~Trials of War~**

Rouge and Omega had trekked through the greater part of the United Federation over the course of two days, doing their best to make it to Sunset Heights in time. Things were definitely tough, not having the luxury of GUN's helicopters or Shadow's speed or chaos abilities to guide them.

But they had made it in those three days, commandeering vehicles from unsuspecting citizens in the name of national security and doing whatever they could to make sure their friends and the city were saved.

Currently, the two were on foot, climbing a hill that was just right next to the Oceanside town. Just a few more feet and they would make it and be able to warn everyone.

Rouge was the first to arrive over the hill, having legs that could carry her much faster than Omega's ever could, and her eyes widened in horror at the sight before her.

Smoke billowed from the top of the town, Eggman robots could be seen all over, including multiple Death Egg Robots, and people could be seen all over either defending the town.

Rouge fell to her knees just as Omega arrived over the hill. "We-we're too late!"

Omega looked down at her and looked up to the town, seeing that the invasion had spread to far worse levels than they had even imagined before finally looking down at his friend and placing a hand on her shoulder.

" **Rouge."**

But she just continued to stare in complete and utter shock at the sight before her.

" **Rouge…"**

She trembled, unable to take it all in and yet unable to look away.

" **Rouge!"**

That was finally able to get her to snap and look at the robot, tears welling in her eyes.

" **This is not good."** He simply stated.

Rouge wiped away her tears and shook her head. "No… it isn't."

At that, they heard the sound of a large explosion and looked to see an angry red surge of Chaos energy appear closer to the shore.

Omega stared at that, while Rouge frowned.

"Shadow's down there." Rouge sighed.

Omega nodded. **"Yes."**

"And that means they probably have Sonic, like they said."

Omega slowly nodded.

Rouge shook her head and hung it in shame. "Omega, what are we going to do?"

At that, Omega took his hand off her shoulder and stepped towards the town. His machine gun attachment appeared and he stood armed and ready. **"We continue to do our jobs, find the resistance and help those we can."**

Rouge looked up into the eyes of the robot, as he looked expectantly at her. She smiled and nodded, taking up a bit of air in her wings and carefully floating alongside Omega.

"Let's go."

 **~Trials of War~**

A group of Mobians stood shaking in fear at the sight before them, a complete pack of Eggpongs had stood, forcing them to put their hands up and prepare for either annihilation or to be shifted off to prison in the Death Egg.

Currently, they were being lined up, prepared to fire upon everyone.

Some their shut eyes while others simply shook in fear.

And then, just as they were about to fire, Omega burst from a burning building, carrying a few people from the rubble.

For a moment, the robots just stared at Omega and Omega stared at them.

Carefully, Omega put the people he was carrying down to which they quickly ran off.

And at that, the robots raised their lasers at them.

But Omega didn't move.

And just as they were about to fire, Rouge flew from above, dropping bombs down on each and every one of them, destroying them in no time flat.

She landed next to the prisoners and waved them down the street where the fire victims had gone. "You're free now everyone, please try and get out of the city as fast as you can. This place is not going to survive."

They didn't have to be told twice and almost all of them booked it out of there.

Omega crossed over to Rouge and patted her on the back.

"Nice work with the fire." Rouge smiled.

" **Thank you. You did wonderful with the Eggpongs."**

"Thanks."

Just then a rumble was heard in the distance. They looked in the general direction of the noise and were shocked to see none other than one of the Death Egg Robots.

"We better get out of here!" Rouge shouted.

But Omega was already on his feet and leaving the scene.

Rouge took a running start before jumping up into the air and flew after him.

The two made a mad dash as it paraded down the streets, all sorts of rubble and the like falling down on them.

But it wasn't long before Silver appeared in the air and used his telekinetic powers to subdue the robot. It worked, but he was struggling under the weight.

Omega saw this and looked to his friend. **"Rouge, go and assist him. I will continue to work from the ground."**

"Are you sure?"

" **Yes, I will be fine."**

"Okay, just promise you'll come back to me."

" **I promise."**

Rouge nodded and gave the robot a quick hug before flying up to join Silver.

Omega kept to the ground, rescuing more Mobians from burning buildings, fighting robots and the like.

Omega was in a clearing now, surrounded by Eggpongs.

Omega didn't waste time, he fired at the robots around him with little resistance.

Despite the supposed power Eggman boasted about the Eggpongs, Omega didn't see much of a threat in them and was able to dispatch of them easily.

But a threat found him.

" _Well now… I didn't expect to run into you today."_ Infinite's voice drawled.

At that Omega spun around, leveling his machine gun arm at Infinite and firing. But Infinite simply plucked each of the bullets out of the air, as if they were nothing more than a mere annoyance to him.

Infinite continued as he advanced. "And here I thought Team Dark would've fallen or been imprisoned at the fall of GUN with the other rabble. But then again, I suppose that would be too easy for you lot, wouldn't it?"

At that, Infinite reached Omega, to which the robot tried to give him a fierce uppercut.

"Too slow." Infinite remarked as he pushed his open palm towards Omega and fired a laser pointblank that knocked him into a nearby wall.

Omega got up, the rubble crumbling all around him, but Infinite was ready. Lashing out at him again as four long tentacles, shifting between a reddish and purple hues.

Omega tried to shoot at them, but to no avail as they wrapped around his arms and legs and hoisted him up into the air.

He tried his best to free himself but Infinite simply twisted his hand, making the grips on these tentacles even harder on him.

"To think that the world's most powerful robot was nothing more a challenge than Crabmeat. Quite pathetic if I do say so myself."

Omega tried to raise his fist again, but to no avail. **"You have not won. The Eggman Empire will be stopped."**

Infinite laughed. "I sincerely doubt that. Look around you, Omega. The Resistance is scrambling to stop our invasion, their base has been destroyed and Sonic has been defeated. How they dare to stand against us now is foolish, they may as well throw in the towel before things get too out of hand for them."

Omega narrowed his lens at him. **"No."**

"Oh yes, it is true. But that is far beyond you, seeing as you're not going to make it out of here alive. Tell me, E123 Omega. How does it feel to be defeated by the ultimate power? Are you capable of feeling fear in those circuits of yours?"

" **I fear no one."**

" _You will."_

Still holding him down, Infinite produced a surge of lightning from his free hand that struck Omega before he could even try to react.

 _ **WARN-**_

 _ **CRITI-**_

 _ **OVER-**_

 _ **MALF-**_

Error messages of all sorts flew across his vision as millions of volts ran through his body, digging right into the wires and circuitry that made his core, showing absolutely no mercy. And before he even the chance to run diagnostics of any kind, a telling message appeared.

 _ **IMMINENT SHUT DOWN INITIATING**_

And as quickly as the "fight" had began, it was over and Omega's systems were down, leaving him in the dark for six months until he would be found by someone who had also lost their way in the war.

 **~Trials of War~**

" **I had been defeated by Infinite and clearly, if what you've said was true then his attack did far more damage than I had originally anticipated."** Omega explained.

Tails nodded. "Yeah, he did your memory chip in pretty good. Thing was completely wrecked when I found you and the best I could do was give you a bit of a hard reset before we could finally come here, salvage your data and fix everything up."

He placed a hand on his back. **"And for that, I owe you a debt of gratitude."**

Tails sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, it was nothing."

"Don't be so modest, bud. You really helped him out." Sonic elbowed him a little to which the fox got even more bashful.

" **But now that we have made the necessary repairs, I must ask, what do we plan to do now?"**

"Well, I think it's obvious." Sonic stated.

Tails nodded. "Oh yeah."

Together, the two declared, "We go out looking for-"

"Sonic!" Tails announced.

"A fight!"" Sonic shouted.

And then, they both looked at each other confusedly. "What?"

"Tails, now that we've got Omega all fixed up, we can go and make a difference out there." Sonic explained. "We need to make our play against Eggman and this is the time to do it. We can be a three man army, taking the world by storm!"

"No, Sonic. That's not going to work here." Tails shook his head. "What we need is to do is look for you. If we find Sonic, we find the resistance and that means we'll be back with the others which is safe."

"If we're looking for me to find the resistance, then that's all the more reason to look for a fight." Sonic stated. "If there's action going on then I'm bound to show up at some point, right?"

"They could be out there anywhere in the world and what places do you know that we can check, Green Hill Zone?"

Sonic flushed at this. "I- urg-"

"Face it, Sonic. I'm the one with the experience when it comes to this world and I know that looking for a fight is only going to lead us to nothing but trouble. But maybe if we find the other you, then things can change for the better."

Sonic frowned at this. "I don't like this plan, Tails."

"Well, it's what we're gonna be doing, so come on."

Tails began to run off and Sonic looked to Omega. "Do you have anything to say about this, big guy?"

Omega shrugged.

"Right…" Sonic sighed.

The two followed Tails through his lab as he picked up a set of keys and some sort of weird red cylinder that Sonic didn't recognize.

But Tails was already on the move and breaking it down for them. "Sonic could be anywhere in the world, it's true. However, when Eggman and Infinite were talking about him back in Green Hill Zone, they gave a very important clue about his whereabouts. Sometime ago, he was on the Death Egg and for the past six months, it's been advertised as a prison for the worst of the worst when it came to resisting the empire. And if Sonic was up there, then he definitely met some prisoners. So tell me, Sonic? What would you do if there were a bunch of prisoners in the Death Egg?"

"Free each and every one of them and blow that dumb thing right out of the sky." Sonic confirmed.

"Exactly." Tails pointed at him. "And you know what? That Death Egg is still up there, and I know you're not the type to leave anybody behind so he's definitely gonna be back. If we're lucky we can head up there now and maybe run into both the resistance and you!"

Sonic smirked. "Alright, I'm liking this idea a little more. Let's crack the Death Egg!"

" **How exactly do you expect to get to the Death Egg? None of us are able to make that type of flight on our own?"** Omega asked.

Tails smirked. He had lead them into a room that was mostly metal on all sides and a tarp covering something large in the middle of the room.

Tails ran over to the tarp and smirked. "Isn't it obvious?"

At that, he revealed what was under the tarp and to their shock and surprise, there stood The Tornado, primed and ready for takeoff.

Tails then went to a nearby table and grabbed a remote, pressing a button and the wall open up, revealing a runway for them to be able to take off.

Sonic was grinning and Omega looked very impressed.

They all climbed aboard and were off, next stop: The Death Egg.

 **And we're done with another chapter of Trials of War. Kinda pumping this one out a little late at night tonight, but I'm not sure when I'll next have internet access on my computer and didn't wanna keep all you lovely people waiting.  
So what did you all think of Omega's story, do you have more questions about Shadow? Lemme know in a review and hey, if we get just six more reviews on this chapter, we'll be at 200! So come on guys, I know we can do it and it would mean the world to me!  
But yeah, let's finish things out with Review Replies.**

 **TGN:  
I'm glad you enjoyed the flashbacks. I hope you liked the ones here as well. And thank you so much for the kind words.  
Sorry, but I'm not gonna change to line breaks. I used to do them but fanfiction is weird and doesn't register them when I import documents so I just stopped doing that so that I don't have to put them in manually for every single chapter.  
Thank you for understanding.  
Honestly, normally I write out everyone's full names, but yeah. That is a lot easier.  
Thanks again, friend.**

 **Alexandria Prime:  
You've got a bit of a wait. Episode Shadow is quite a bit away.**

 **Guest:  
Thank you for the kind words. I'm really glad you enjoyed it and that I handled Team Dark well. Honestly, I had a lot of fun writing them.  
As for Shadow? Hmmmmm good question.**

 **KelWelPower:  
Thanks! And ooooooo still sticking to your guns, huh? I like it. Guess we'll have to wait and see!  
You see, that is a good question and uh… plotholes, fun. I need to do some rewriting here and there. But the current answer before I change anything is that, Knuckles knows the Phantom Ruby by name but doesn't know the connection to Infinite.  
Me: Mmmmmmmm… Oh my God. Stop f****** lying!  
Haha, it's all good.**

 **tekina fiction:  
Haha. Glad you liked it, pal.**

 **Animation Adventures:  
What? I swear I responded to your review. Okay, that's weird. I guess I'm gonna have to double up here and reply to both.**

 **Animation Adventures Chapter 16:  
Omega's fixed! Woohoo! It's about time, honestly.  
And yes, I did talk a bit about the Babylon Rogues in my own Forces rewrite. I love the Babylon Rogues a lot. And have you posted the theory to another site, because I think I've heard it before. I really like the idea of Babylonians being from the Sol Dimension though, that's so cool!  
Oh whoops. That was a typo. Gotta make that edit when I get the chance.  
Thanks so much, hope you liked both parts.**

 **Animation Adventures Current Review:  
Okay, now back to the present.  
Honestly, I prefer longer reviews. The longer the better, to be honest. But I want you to do as long as you want to as well. Shadow fights for his own reasons and I'm glad you guys are liking the dynamic between Team Dark.  
Hope you liked his POV here.  
Thanks so much for the kind words and so sorry for missing you last time. Won't happen again.**

 **And that's it. I leave you all with all of that and will see you all with Tornado Defense.  
R&R everyone and let's hit 200!**


	20. Chapter 19: Tornado Defense Act 1

**So first off, I wanted to talk about the last chapter a little bit. My initial goal with Trials of War was to create a fleshed out version of Sonic Forces but also trying to keep it as canon as humanly possible. And that is something that has become harder and harder with each chapter. GUN using actual firearms was a gamble that I was debating on for a bit when writing it last chapter but decided to go with it since it fit more thematically with a military organization of their stature than Wispons or weird laser guns or anything like that. I'm still trying to stick to canon and am doing my best at that. Please lemme know if I miss out on that at any moments.**

 **With that said, onto happier stuff. We did it guys! 200 reviews! Heck yeah! I can't thank you all enough for this story, each and every view, follow, favorite and review has made me want to make this story better and better with every chapter and I owe that to each and every one of you. When I started this fic I didn't think much of it, just that I wanted to take my crack at rewriting Forces. I had a story in mind, but didn't think it would get nearly as far as it has now. I mean, we've doubled the reviews of my formerly most popular story and are close to trebling them. Wow. Just thank you all so much for loving this story.**

 **In other news, I also just turned 21 on the 12** **th** **, so that's pretty cool too. Had a decent birthday as far as things go and while it was a few days before, I'll take the 200 reviews as an early present because of that, or well late since you guys are reading this now.**

 **With that said, let's get into some high flying antics with Tornado Defense.**

 **Trials of War- A Sonic Forces Rewrite  
Chapter 19:  
Tornado Defense Act 1**

 **[M1]** Deep within the confines of the Death Egg, Doctor Eggman walked the halls with an incredibly eager Doctor Starline in his wake.

"Might I say Doctor, being in the mere presence of a genius such as yourself is the greatest honor I could ever hope to attain. But to become a general of your army? I must say that I am absolutely astonished by your generosity and your faith in me."

"But of course." Eggman smiled. "You have proven yourself to be the very best of the best and I believe that you have what it takes to truly spread the will of the Eggman Empire."

"And I promise to do so with the utmost care. The resistance surely won't know what hit them."

Eggman grinned. "I know you won't. And I can't wait to see the work you produce."

With that, the two continued their trek down the hall.

"So Doctor, you mentioned that I would have a task here on the Death Egg, yes?"

Eggman nodded. "Yes, I want you to take inventory of the prisoners here. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course, Doctor!" Starline smiled. "I'll be happy to do so and report to you in record time."

"That's good to hear. I await your report." Eggman nodded.

With that, the two arrived in the hangar and Eggman stepped into one of the waiting ships. He stuck his head out the entry way and looked at his new general, who gave him the proudest smile that he could muster. "I'm heading back to Metropolis, the others are out and about checking up on things so I'm also going to do some cleaning up in my office. Be good and I'll see you later."

The Platypus waved at him to which he waved back and stepped into the pod and flew off.

With that, Starline turned away, pulled out an electronic clipboard and went to the cells sure to complete a good job. **[M1 End]**

 **~Trials of War~**

 **[M2]** Infinite preferred to fly at night.

While he did get the amusement of scaring the living daylights out of any unfortunate soul who happened to spot him, he preferred the darkness. It let him focus on his thoughts own thoughts and better communicate with the ruby on his chest.

But it wasn't just the calm and quiet that he enjoyed, there was something about the darkness of the night sky that he really couldn't help but enjoy as well. It drew him in, it comforted him to be all alone in the dark. He supposed that it was because of his near invisibility in the dark and the fact that when he was in a battle, sinking into the darkness was a great way to catch his enemies off guard.

But as far as his current patrol went, nothing really eventful had come up. He flew over territories they had long since conquered or destroyed and that was it. Nothing truly new for the jackal to possibly overcome and for that, he was left bored in a sense.

He wanted some form of action, but couldn't find it.

A village to terrorize, a stray fighter to catch off guard, a weary traveler to shake down, _something!_

He sighed though, fingering the ruby on his chest and finding slight comfort as it sent a reassuring thrum of power through his body.

Without another word, he continued to fly off. **[M2 End]**

 **~Trials of War~**

 **[M3]** Elsewhere in the skies, the tornado flew with its three passengers. At the controls was tails, standing on top of the nose of the plane was Sonic with his arms crossed and on the other end was Omega, clutching the tail to make sure he had good hold of the thing.

But for the most part, having gotten over their small scuffle they were in good spirits as they were about to take on one of the biggest threats in the world: The Death Egg.

"Now this is what I call flyin' in style." Sonic smirked as he looked up at the imposing space station still a bit ahead. "How are you doin' back there, Omega?"

" **Status: This unit was not built for such high altitudes. We must seek land at once!"**

Tails laughed. "We will, Omega. Well, if you call the cold metal of the Death Egg land that is."

" **If this vessel will not fall, then it will suffice."**

"No promises. I could give you a little push." Sonic snarked.

" **I would take you down with me."**

"Okay no pushing it is." Sonic laughed.

Tails just shook his head and smiled. "We'll be arriving there shortly, so hang on everyone." **[M3 End]**

 **~Trials of War~**

 **[M1]** Eyes looked out at him from behind blue force fields as Starline as he walked the many halls of the Death Prison. Some of them looked at him with fear in their eyes, others looked on in anger and others just stared at him, having long since been mentally defeated by their imprisonment.

Starline was absolutely giddy at this, laughing and making a mockery out of those who had looked on in fear and wallowed in depression and shooting his own glares and sneers at the inmates.

If looks could kill though, he would've been absolutely destroyed by the harsh scowl that was sent his way from Lieutenant Topaz. Luckily he was protected by the barriers that she couldn't possibly hope to break through.

But for someone like Starline, he was absolutely was living the dream as he walked down these halls and interacted with his victims. So many under the control of the glorious doctor was absolutely astounding.

Soon, he made his way down the hall to another cell and he was stunned when he saw who occupied it.

"What, _you?!_ " Starline gaped.

The mystery person looked up and gave him a small smile. "I am sorry, do we know each other?"

Starline crossed his arms and looked away. "You do not know me, but I am very aware of you. I have studied the Doctor's exploits for years and among my searches, I also discovered his enemies. The world may not know you, but I do."

The stranger put a finger to their chin in thought and shrugged. "Well, that is interesting."

"Is this not the part where you ask who I am?"

The figure looked at Starline and looked him up and down a moment. "You are with Doctor Eggman, are you not?"

"But of course, I am his greatest admirer and the newest general of his army."

"If you are aligned with him, then you are not much of my concern." They tutted before turning away from him.

Starline frowned at this. "That is no way to treat one of the world's supreme leaders!"

But they already turned back to staring at the wall of their prison cell, they looked entirely calm despite having been behind a force field for an undefined amount of time.

The platypus grit his teeth and glared at them. He wanted to let them have it for disrespecting both him and Eggman.

But they were cool, calm and collected and didn't seem to be bothered by anything in the world. And so he decided to play the same approach.

"You know, you have a point. Why would anyone of your skill and power have any need for someone of my caliber? I am far inferior to the likes of you."

They raised an eyeridge at him.

"However, Doctor Eggman seems to have bested you. That is why you are here and not helping your friends in their silly little resistance." Starline smirked. "Tell me, how does it feel knowing every moment you spend here could be spent helping your friends in their futile attempts to stop the strength and will that is the glorious Eggman Empire?"

They kept their composure, for the most part, but he could see the longing in their eyes at this.

"Yes, it is quite the shame. But that just goes to show you the awesome power the doctor wields that even someone like you could be here. Soon, all of them will be destroyed or rot in here just like you."

At that, the prisoner scowled. "Are you quite finished?"

"I am. It has been a pleasure."

With that, Starline continued on his merry way ready to make the report for the doctor. **[M1 End]**

 **~Trials of War~**

The trio was nearing their destination, having just made it above the clouds and approaching the atmosphere.

"Just a few more minutes and we'll be there." Tails announced.

"Thank Chaos. I was getting bored up here." Sonic remarked.

" _If action is what you wanted then you should have asked, little one."_ An eerily familiar voice let out, making each and every one of them freeze.

At that, the sound of distortion rang out and Infinite appeared before them, glaring them all down.

"Infinite!?"

"But of course. You three entered my skies without permission from the Doctor. That in and of itself is grounds for execution."

"Your skies?" Sonic laughed. "You better think again, buddy. I don't care if Eggman has control of the world or a backyard, the skies belong to nobody."

" **What of the skies that belong to GUN?"** Omega asked.

Sonic turned to Omega and raised an eyebrow at Omega who looked at him without even batting an eye.

Infinite snickered. "Seems you are mistaken, young one. Now, how would you like to land, by crashing now or allowing me to have fun with you?"

Sonic smirked and flicked his nose. "That's not gonna happen, right guys?"

" **Affirmative!"** Omega agreed, turning his arm into the machine gun attachment.

"W-w-we're not sc-sc-ared of you!" Tails stammered.

Infinite smirked. "But you should be. E123 Omega and Miles P'rower, I've defeated both of you before and with ease."

"Yeah, well you haven't fought me yet!" Sonic smirked.

Infinite narrowed his eye at him. "You?" He laughed. "I've never seen you before in my life, but it seems that the Phantom Ruby has some fond memories of you, interesting. Not only are you not in your prime but you're in a place you don't belong. You couldn't defeat the Ruby alone with all of The Chaos Emeralds and you think you can stand against one that wields such power? Please."

Sonic didn't even bat an eye. "Yeah, well that was alone. But I'm here with my friends and we're gonna take you down!"

" _You'll try…"_

 **[M4]** With that, the Ruby on Infinite's chest with a bright flash of light, the sound of distortion rang out and they got into action.

Sonic opened his eyes and gaped at the sight before him. "What the?"

Long black snake like bodies appeared in the skies by Infinite's side and on their heads, were masks similar to that of Infinite. Infinite hovered calmly in the air as if he were relaxing on some sort of fold out chair on the beach.

" **These creatures…"** Omega started.

Sonic smirked. "No need to be scared, buddy. We've got this."

" **Your sentiments are appreciated but the deduction incorrect."** Omega touted. **"I am shocked that they share the same visage as their creator and yet appear to be half as ugly."**

That elicited a hearty laugh from the hedgehog at the head of the plane.

Infinite growled at this and snapped his fingers.

At this, the snake like beings opened their mouths and massive amounts of red energy began to gather in their maws.

At that, Tails was broken out of his stunned silence and immediately got to the controls. "Brace yourselves!" He barked.

Sonic crouched down on the plan, putting a hand on the hull to steady himself while Omega used one arm to hold onto the plane's rudder.

And with that, they fired massive fiery red beams of death that Tails quickly maneuvered the Tornado to dip down underneath them.

Infinite nodded at the snakes and gestured at them with his head to which they went after them.

Tails grit his teeth as he had to weave around, in between, up above, underneath and all around these things while Infinite simply watched in amusement.

" **Progress Levels at bare minimum! We must change strategy!"** Omega shouted.

"Tell us something we don't know, buddy." Sonic remarked, he then looked at the fox. "Got any bright ideas, Tails?"

"Uh… uh…" He didn't know what to do. "I- I- I don't know!"

Omega fired at one of the snakes but to no avail, as it seemed to tank each and every one of his bullets.

"Well you better get on somethin' soon. I don't do well with heights!"

"Give into your fear, child. There is no stopping infinite power or have you forgotten what happened all those months ago?"

At that, Tails screwed his eyes shut and tried not to take in the monster's word to heart but they cut deep. Flashes of what had happened to Sonic a lifetime ago rippled through his mind. Seeing him get destroyed by Infinite and the fact that he wasn't able to save him. Sonic had always been one to come through but in that case, he had fallen and all Tails could do was sit there in paralyzed fear, only acting after things had gone down. He wasn't good enough. He hadn't been for years. Always following Sonic and never jumping into the action anymore and when he needed him most he-

" _ **Tails!"**_ Sonic's shrill shriek broke him out of his daze only for him to look wide eyed at one of the snake beings, charging its lasers.

Tails yelped at this and quickly jerked the plane to the left, just barely dodging the blast.

At this point, Tails was hyperventilating trying to keep calm, but at just the mere thought of battling Infinite, he was losing everything. All the memories came flooding back and he couldn't quite get a grip.

But Sonic turned back to him. "Tails, I know you're having a hard time. You've been through a lot and I'm so sorry that I was- or well, won't be there to help you with that. But right now, we're in the middle of a fight and I need you to focus."

"B-b-but I can't!"

"Yes you can!" Sonic shouted. "You're Tails! There's nobody that flies faster and higher than you because it's what your best at. You've been by my side for years, you saved Station Square and you can do anything!"

Tails took in the words and albeit shakily, he took to the controls, doing his best to keep cool. He had a job to do.

Tails furrowed his brow and took off towards Infinite, careful to weave between each of the snakes, slightly banking so that Omega could fire at him.

They struck him to which the jackal grunted in pain.

This warranted cheers from the group which only resulted in a glare from Infinite. At that he got back into the game and his hands began to glow red to which the snakes' bodies gave off a corresponding glow.

He willed them forward so that they were all lined up and ready to fire at them, but Tails was quick jerking the plane upwards so that it was high above him.

At that, Sonic got into a crouching position and jumped right off.

"Sonic!" Tails cried out as he homed into Infinite.

Sonic connected the attack and freefell from where he landed.

Luckily Tails was quick to catch him to which he gave him a thumbsup.

At that, Infinite grew furious, his whole body dissolving into pixels and in its place was a ray of light shaped like his mask. He shot off right for them, leaving a pixelated trail in his wake.

Tails shrieked in fear at this, quick to grab the controls and evade his pursuer.

All the while, the snakelike beings continued to fire on them.

Tails continue to weave and dodge but it was then that he noticed that with the creatures chasing after them, they would occasionally bump into one another. And that's when he got a bright idea.

Tails began to fly in an intricate pattern through the air, making sure to fly up and down and all around and Infinite continued to chase after him.

Sonic and Omega held on for dear life while he did all of this, and in time the creatures only seemed to get closer and closer to them.

But Infinite, was hot on their tail, just nearing the tailend of the plane, he formed back to normally and reached out to them, ready to strike them down.

But to his utter shock, he stopped dead in his tracks, just as the plane flew out of reach.

"Wha-what?!" Infinite shouted, in confusion. He looked back only for his one eye to widen in shock.

His large snake like creatures were tangled in a ball of masks and obsidian skin, and right at the end, it had caught onto Infinite's foot.

The trio cheered at this and used their opening to make it up to the Death Egg.

Infinite on the other hand dispersed his snake creatures and put a hand to his ear.

" _Doctor, we have a problem."_ **[M4 End]**

 **~Trials of War~**

The trio landed in the Death Egg's hangars and quickly hopped off.

Omega was relieved. **"Now that our impending doom of being thousands of feet above the ground has been avoided, we can finally storm the Death Egg."**

Sonic grinned. "Aw yeah, this is gonna be way past cool! Tails, nice job on the-"

But he was cut off as Tails tackled him into a hug.

Sonic was a bit surprised at this, but took it in stride. Enveloping his little-big brother in a hug.

"I- I thought I was gonna lose you again, Sonic. I-I'm sorry!"

"Hey, Hey. It's okay, bud. I'm not going anywhere. I promise. I'm sorry for getting a little risky there, but we had to stop him, right?"

"R-right…" Tails shuddered.

At that, Sonic stayed in Tails grasp for a few more seconds before he tried to pull away. But to his shock, Tails continued to hold onto him.

Sonic pulled away to which the fox sheepishly looked away from him. "I- I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. Hey let's just focus on the Death Egg, alright?"

Tails nodded and lead the way down the path with Omega quick to follow after him.

Sonic lagged behind for a moment and frowned, thinking of just what happened with Tails. Sonic had risked his life multiple times since the fox was just a child and here was his little brother who was now older than him even, not wanting to let him go at all. He had definitely been through a lot, but… Sonic didn't really know. He didn't know how to feel about what had just happened.

" **Sonic, my databanks tell me that you are the fastest thing alive, even as a child, and yet you are standing there."** Omega called out.

Sonic shook off his thoughts and joined them, heading deep into The Death Egg.

 **[M1] Quickening of Evil - Sonic Forces OST  
[M2] Phantom Ruby=Evil Deed – Sonic Forces OST  
[M3] Tornado Defense – 1** **st** **Battle – Sonic Unleashed OST  
[M4] Battle With Infinite Second Bout – Sonic Forces OST  
**

**And we're done with yet another exciting chapter of Trials of War. Short, I know but I wanted to do some Tornado Defense and I definitely wanted them to meet up with Infinite.  
Tails fans, don't kill me. I swear you'll like how things turn out but hold on for now.  
Originally, Starline's role in this chapter was one that wasn't in the initial plan for this story but I think I'll get more into that in the next couple of chapters. But I wonder who he was talking to?  
And yeah, that'll do for this chapter. Next time, we'll be heading into "Liberty or Death! …Egg Part 1" and I am so excited for that one. You're probably wondering why I've already split it up but that was part of the initial plan and you'll see why next chapter.  
Next chapter is probably gonna be on the longer end though, so I'll probably be seeing you all in September.  
But until then, R&R and let's do some review replies.**

 **DracoFogg:  
Haha, thank you. I'm trying to make this both as fleshed out as I possibly can as well as feeling somewhat like actual canon. So I'm glad that you like it that much.**

 **Guest1:  
I live for the heartbreak. Omega's such a good boy. Rouge really does need a hug.  
Who knows?  
Shadow, despite everything still cares for his friends. We've even seen this a few times.  
Absolutely intentional and I'm glad you noticed!**

 **AlexandriaPrime:  
Hm… I wonder. I can say his reasoning will be a mixed bag.  
Well, now we're on the Death Egg and who knows what could happen?**

 **tekina fiction:  
You'll just have to wait and see, pal. Thanks for the kind words.**

 **Guest2:  
Thank you. Team Dark was really nice to write and it's a shame there isn't more of them in this fic since they're one of the most fun dynamics here.  
Thank you.  
And I did debate on the use of "damn" in the last chapter, but decided to keep it in. Swearing is kept to a minimum, but I do stand by my choice of words there for the GUN Commander.**

 **Guest3:  
You're right. And I'll be getting to that at some point, I do plan to make revisions for this fic one day.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw:  
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… And thank you. Omega was really a joy to write here and so happy to be tackling him as a normal character now.**

 **TGN:  
Thanks!  
Shadow fights for his own reasons. At this point, I might as well be Aaron Webber pre-Forces saying that. Lmfao. But yeah, we'll find out soon or later.  
Who knows what could happen on the Death Egg? I do but I suppose time will tell.  
Thank you for being understanding.  
Thanks so much!**

 **KelWelPower:  
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.  
Thank you. Topaz was a bit of a spur of the moment decision, but I'm glad that people are liking her presence. And gotta love our callbacks with Joseph. He very much still is on the Death Egg.  
Rouge and Omega will have a reunion someday too. After all, can't have Team Classic join the resistance and not have a reunion between Rouge and Omega. But you're absolutely right on that being a reckless decision and that's an opinion you should keep in mind moving forward. Thank you so much!**

 **Guest3:  
Basically, picture Metropolis as a city, right. And then, the fortress surrounds it like uh… hm… okay, say like we have an egg right. Metropolis is the yolk and the EEF is the whites.**

 **Guest4:  
Wait, where did you get the impression that Shuffle was canon? I didn't intentionally make a reference to it.**

 **Guest5:  
Lyric is mostly a throwaway joke. He still exists within Boom and yeah.  
But if that doesn't satisfy you, consider this Modern Lyric. **

**Guest6:  
The Egg Collider is a surprise. ;)  
But nah, not like Spiderverse.**

 **Animation Adventures:  
Thanks for understanding.  
Ahhhhh, I gotcha. And I agree. So much can be done with the rogues and it's such a shame that that potential will likely never be touched on.  
Yep. GUN needed to fall. Couldn't start the invasion without getting rid of one of the big fish and without GUN to protect the world, it kind of allowed things to escalate the way things did in 6 months. Like, Sonic was bad enough but without GUN? Oh geez.  
Episode Shadow is a bit of a ways off but it will happen. That's a story I've been dying to tell for a while now.  
Who knows what could happen? We're gonna be getting back to the Resistance after the Death Egg portion of this arc, so not the next chapter but in 3 of them. If all goes according to plan with my monthly updates, December is our time of return.  
Hope you liked this one. Thanks for the continued support.**

 **Oragonking:  
I just don't like two worlds in general so we're getting a combined one.**


	21. Chapter 20: Self Reflection

**It is 4:20PM on September 7** **th** **and I am rewatching the Steven Universe movie. Here we are in the future, ladies and gents! Well, Steven's doing good enjoying his happily ever after but there's no time for fun and games like that, we have a war to get to. You know what they say, "None of this is good, Vector. That's why it's called war…" And I'm not really sure where I'm going with this AN. Some of you may notice that yeah, I'm starting pretty late starting this chapter. Well, I usually take a week off after each chapter (unless it's short) and then I had exams so that's fun. But I'm here and ready to knock this chapter out of the park.  
But before that I forgot to say the last chapter but with the sky boss fight, it took everything in me not to call them Long Bois as the fandom so lovingly dubbed them. But yeah!  
So are you guys ready to storm the Death Egg with the Classic Trio? I sure am, so let's begin!**

 **Trials of War- A Sonic Forces Rewrite  
Chapter 20  
Self Reflection**

"This is a problem…" Eggman frowned as Infinite gave him the details of what had just occurred.

Tails, Omega and the younger Sonic the Hedgehog had appeared in the skies and had been heading for the Death Egg.

The Doctor wrung his hands together atop his office desk, allowing his thoughts to gather.

In his typical fashion, Tails had outsmarted, outwitted and outfoxed his greatest weapon and with another Sonic on the scene with him, it was no wonder that the three of them were able to catch Infinite off guard.

How did Tails find his spirits so quickly as to be able to fend off Infinite? What happened to the sniveling child that he had encountered in Green Hill that needed an even smaller child for him to even find his way? What had changed?

Sonic the Hedgehog had always been a threat to him. He had been the one to dismantle each and every one of his plans with that stupid looking grin on his face each and every time and even if the younger Sonic wasn't nearly as strong he was problem.

But Tails… Tails was something else that he needed to worry about. There wasn't a single being on the planet that could rival his intellect, human or Mobian. No one that even came close. No one at all… except for Miles Prower. He had been a mere child when he first met him, even younger than Sonic and he always seemed to be able to figure him out. As a child, he brushed this off as dumb luck, the mere musings of a child who didn't know what he was talking about.

But as time progressed, he knew he was dealing with a mind that just barely breeched into his own league and while he enjoyed the challenge and enjoyed one upping Tails where he could, he knew that he could become an incredible problem if left unchecked. But with him out of the world for his reign, it made things even easier without Sonic.

And if he was back, and able to outsmart Infinite then…

"Master…?" Infinite intruded, breaking the Doctor out of his thoughts and looking to the holographic projection of the being before him. "Should I pursue them?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Eggman shouted. "I want you to-"

And then he stopped, the holographic image showed an incoming call from Starline in the corner.

Eggman stopped what he was doing and eyed the icon of his new protégé.

"Master?" Infinite asked again.

"Hold off on the attack, Infinite. I want you to continue your patrol. See what you can find."

Infinite nodded. "Yes, master."

And with that, he hung up and disappeared.

And in his place appeared the grinning form of Doctor Starline.

"Greetings, my benevolent emperor!" He chirped.

Eggman couldn't help but smile. "Well hello, Doctor Starline. How are you doing this fine evening?"

"Quite pleasant, doctor!" Starline replied. "And I trust that you are having a wonderful evening as well?"

"Hit a bit of snag, but for all intents and purposes I am doing well."

"Well, whatever snag you may have hit, I am sure that it is no match for the might of Emperor Eggman!" The Platypus beamed.

"You're darn right it's not." Eggman couldn't help but smirk.

At that, Starline clapped his hands. "I would like to confirm the completion of my task you gave me, Doctor. Each and every one of the 623 prisoners are present and accounted for!"

"Ah, excellent." Eggman smiled. "I'm glad that you were able to take care of that."

"Oh yes, it was but a pleasure, Doctor." Starline smiled, proceeding to do an over the top bow in the process. "Oh, you should've seen the looks on their faces when I talked to them. Why Prisoner X11 was absolutely furious with me, it was delightful."

Eggman couldn't help but laugh at this. "Well, I'm glad you're having fun. There's nothing quite like torturing some prisoners to brighten up one's day."

"Oh yes, sir!" Starline eagerly clapped his hands.

"Well, I must applaud you for a job well done, my friend." Eggman mirrored him.

"Oh thank you, your lordship! Your praise is the greatest reward I could ever receive! Now is there anything else that you would like of me before I make my return to the surface?"

Eggman nodded. "Yes, there's-"

And he stopped, Starline looked at him eagerly, ready and waiting to do anything for him. That skill, that determination, he was ready and waiting to do anything and everything for him no matter what and that unwavering loyalty was to be appreciated. But he had yet to receive a proper test for how he could fair in battle. He knew of the battle mechs ready and waiting on the Death Egg and that they would be available for Doctor Starline's personal use when Sonic and Tails arrived.

And there was no better test than the immediate panic of intruders.

Eggman smiled. "There's nothing to worry about at the moment,just stay on the Death Egg and await further instructions."

"Of course, Doctor." Starline bowed as the holographic image of him disappeared.

With that, Eggman turned away from his desk and looked out his window to look over the bustling city of Metropolis. Things were about to get interesting and he was going have to make sure to play his hand carefully moving into the coming battles.

 **~Trials of War~**

Sonic, Tails and Omega were zooming down the endless halls of the Death Egg. They had been running for several minutes but for the time they hadn't been able to find much of anything when it came to their quest. It was strange.

The halls themselves were lined with metal pipes of all kinds of different shapes and sizes that seemed to snake their ways into and out of the walls like the vines of a tree, the halls themselves were bathed light almost sterile glow. Unfortunately the lights didn't do much in regards to central heating as they occasionally shivered at the harsh chill of space. This meant that the only sounds that accompanied them were the light whirring of machines, the feint flicker of lights, the light tip tapping of a supersonic hedgehog, the whips of two tails and the harsh thuds of a robot's feet.

Yes, the trio looked incredibly determined as they continued down more of the halls of the Death Egg, making no chatter as they focused on their mission.

For Omega, the objective was simple, get through the Death Egg's defenses and eventually find the Sonic the Hedgehog that he knew in the present. One and done, that was it.

For Tails, he only had the blue blur on his mind, if he was right then he would be seeing his Sonic today, the one that he thought he had lost so long ago and everything that had seemed so wrong for these months would be made right again. Sonic would fix everything and they'd all go back to Mobius, stop Eggman, he'd probably punch Infinite in the face a few times and the world would be set back in peace as if nothing ever happened. All the pain he had endured over these months would be instantly rectified and he'd have nothing to worry about. He was sure that he would see Sonic again today and it would be perfect. They'd then return to earth, stop the war, overthrow Eggman, maybe punch Infinite a few times and everything would go back to normal.

For Sonic, he was in a similar boat as Omega, where he just wanted to get through the Death Egg and hopefully run into the older version of himself. But even then, he just wanted to do _something_ up here in the Death Egg in order to help the world. The Mobius of this time… or well… his future was in dire need of help and they were just trying to look for him. It… it didn't feel right for Sonic, it didn't sit well with him.

Sonic frowned. This fixation that Tails had on him was beginning to be an issue. The kid had been through a lot over the past six months and of course, he had wished that he had been able to be there for him whether that be as he was now or will be in the future. But… what was happening with Tails… It was too much. He didn't like seeing his little brother in so much pain. If this was Tails' future, then… was any of this worth it? He hated that it all had to turn out like this…

But was it a future that he would see at all? Sonic bit his lip at this thought. He had been having his own suspicions towards the future for a while now, but… The fact that Tails seemed to have no knowledge of anything regarding the adventure that sent him to this future in the first place was bothering him. Sonic knew that he was lying. He could hear it in his voice, see how he would try his hardest to cover it up and know it just by the look in his eyes whenever a question about such events were brought up. He didn't understand why though? Why exactly did Tails not remember their adventure with the Phantom Ruby, but remembered the events of the Time Eater? It didn't make any sense.

None of this really made sense, they were running down these halls with no discernable path in sight and just hoping that they found what they were looking for.

"Alright stop!" Sonic shouted as he skidded to a halt.

Both Tails and Omega turned to look at the Hedgehog, surprised at the hedgehog's sudden outburst.

"Do either of you have any idea where we're going?" He asked them.

Tails and Omega looked to each other and then back at Sonic.

"Uh, yeah. We're going to find the prisoners and that should lead us to the resistance, right? They've gotta be staging a jailbreak at some point?"

"Okay, sure. But where _are_ the prisoners?" Sonic asked.

Tails shrugged. "I dunno, normally we storm these bases and just happen to get lucky and find what we're looking for."

"We've been running around this place for like thirty minutes and we haven't even had the slightest hint that we're going the right way. Heck, we haven't even run into any robots or guards."

Omega nodded. **"Sonic is correct. We do not know where we are going."**

"Well, what do you suggest we do to fix this?" Tails asked.

"I dunno. You guys have your sciency stuff. Can't you just make a map or something?"

Tails rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, lemme just make a map for this place out of thin air."

"You don't have to be a jerk about it."

"Well, what do you want me to do?

" **Perhaps we can use that terminal to find our bearings."** Omega chimed in, pointing to a wall.

Both Sonic and Tails turned to look in the direction and true to his word, a terminal was standing ready and waiting for them.

"Jackpot!" Tails snickered as he and the others ran over to it.

He was quick to whip out his Miles Electric and began getting to work. The screen of the terminal began to have lines of code scroll through it which was mirrored by Tails' handheld.

"Woah, what's that thing?" Sonic gasped, looking curiously at the machine in his hands.

"I call it the Miles Electric, my very own customizable computer. Built it myself a few years back and it's been a pretty handy tool to have on our adventures over the years."

"That's pretty cool." Sonic grinned. "My lil bro's so smart that he built a computer. I don't even know where the rat is used for."

"That's a mouse, Sonic." Tails chuckled.

"Rat, mouse, what's the difference?" The blue blur asked.

Tails just laughed at that.

Omega stepped up and put a hand on Tails' shoulder. **"Be cautious when breaking into the Doctor's files. Covering your tracks is of the utmost importance."**

Tails nodded. "Already way ahead of 'ya. I made sure to keep all cameras on a continuous loop, so that we can't be seen running around and the Miles Electric uses my own personal code that makes itself as scarce as possible. On the one in a million chance that it is found, it's gonna look like it came from somewhere in the middle of the ocean."

"Which ocean?" Sonic asked.

"Exactly."

" **Excellent."** Omega nodded.

With that, a few moments of silence passed before the robot spoke up again. **"What level of intelligence do you have to confuse a computer mouse for a rat?"**

"Hey, tech isn't my thing, tincan."

" **Clearly."**

Sonic rolled his eyes at this but decided not to say anything to the robot.

Instead, he watched Tails at work but quickly grew bored. He crossed his arms and looked around the room, then started impatiently tapping his foot. He held his arm out and looked down at an imaginary wrist watch that he didn't have.

Finally, just as he was ready to give up and take a rest on the floor, Tails spoke up. "Got it! Let's roll!"

And like that, the trio was off to find the prison.

 **~Trials of War~**

Doctor Starline was pretty pleased with himself. I mean, how could he not after having praises sung from his idol, the benevolent Doctor Eggman?

He let out a sigh of contempt as he looked over the screens displaying security footage of the Death Egg. At the moment all seemed in the clear, so he just allowed himself to just take it all in.

To be appointed a general of Doctor Eggman's Army, to be here on the Death Egg, to be spreading the empire across the globe, bringing about the destruction of those who refused to submit to their might, it was absolutely incredible.

He took another peek at the screens, and still nothing.

He hadn't even gone in depth on showing the Doctor his plans for the Egg Collider, yet he was absolutely giddy at the thought of working with the doctor on a project. It would be he and Eggman, pouring over blueprints, conversing over the specs of their machinery, getting their hands dirty when it came to metalwork, laughing over the deadly capabilities of the machine and what it could do to that troublesome resistance. It would be wonderful.

Starline didn't even look at the screens this time, too lost in his own fantasies. It was a shame too, because he would've spotted a fox, a hedgehog and a robot working on one of their terminals before the cameras flickered back to normal.

What if… when he finished all of this, the Doctor would be so impressed with him that he decided to give him a promotion? Putting him above the likes of Shadow the Hedgehog? And with more commitment and hard work, maybe… just maybe he could replace Infinite and become the Doctor's right hand? The mere thought of ruling alongside him for the rest of their days just… it just got him all warm and fuzzy inside.

He would work hard so that one day that dream would be a reality.

 **~Trials of War~**

Sonic, tails and Omega didn't take long to find the prison after that and quickly made their way inside.

When the sliding door opened, they were welcomed with the sight of the large prison.

Where Tails and Omega were able to move forward, Sonic stood frozen in absolute shock and abject terror at what he had seen.

Rows upon rows of cells could be seen both as high and low as the eyes could see. People and Mobians alike of all sorts of different shapes and sizes were inside. Some looking better than others, but it was clear that a lot of them had been in there for a very long time.

He'd seen some awful stuff when it came to his past with Eggman. He had taken homes from the defenseless and did as he pleased; he had roboticized all sorts of people; he did what he could for all his selfish gain. But this… this was too much. Hundreds of people were trapped here and had been left to rot for months. And for what? Because they couldn't fall into his world order, they couldn't be who he wanted them to be?

Taking freewill from people to be his slaves was one thing, but somehow, Sonic saw that just locking them up and throwing away the key was even worse.

He thought Tails had called for him and honestly, he wasn't even sure when he started moving but soon he found himself on his feet across the prison floor.

It wasn't long before some of the people noticed him and began cheering for him, shouting that Sonic was back and that he was here to save them. That he was fulfilling some sort of promise, but honestly he didn't hear any of it. The child was just so lost trying to process what he had seen.

It was horrible and he wanted to make Eggman pay.

Tails sighed. "It- it looks like he isn't here."

" **Doctor Eggman proclaimed his escape, perhaps he is somewhere else on the ground."** Omega declared.

Tails nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I- I guess that there really isn't anything here for us. I don't think waiting around the Death Egg is a good idea, but we have no other leads."

" **A return to Sunset Heights then?"**

"Maybe, but I don't see how that would be any good." Tails shrugged. "The city was pretty wrecked when Sonic and I left, I don't think that we can go there."

" **Then how should we proceed?"**

Sonic looked at them, absolutely shocked at what he was hearing and with tears brimming at the corners of his eyes. "What do you mean how should we proceed!? We- we have to help these people! W-we have to blow this place out of the sky!"

Tails and Omega looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Sonic…" Tails started. "That isn't possible. We only have the Tornado and there are far too many people here for us to stage a jailbreak."

" **Unfortunately he is correct."**

"That isn't possible?!" Sonic shouted. "Since when has that ever mattered, I've done all kinds of things that weren't possible. Chaos, you've done a lot of things that have been impossible! You were nine years old and you saved Station Square all by yourself!"

"Yeah, but… this…"

"Is something that we have to figure out cuz that's what we do!"

"Sonic, you don't understand, we can't-"

"Yes, we can!" Sonic insisted. "I'm saving all of these people and there's nothing you can do to stop me, Tails."

Tails bit his lip, seeing the trembling hedgehog who wanted to do nothing more than help people and save the day as he always had. Even with the odds stacked against him, he still wanted to. Once, he would've been right by his side, ready to face those odds no matter what because Sonic had taught him to believe. But now… well, a small part of him wanted to agree to try and help. But another part of him knew that it just wasn't possible there was nothing they could do but if they found the other Sonic then maybe they really could start to do things to help the world. But for now-

"If I may interject…" A voice started, startling the trio.

All of them looked at the source of the voice to see a lone cell that was standing before them. The majority of the cell was shrouded in darkness and the source of the voice seemed to be hiding in the darkness, save for shimmering golden eyes that contained a fiery passion for battle shone out towards them.

"But I believe that the younger Sonic is right. We can free all these people and I'd like to help with that."

With that, the owner of the voice stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the cell and they were shocked to find out who it was.

A purple furred cat wearing a darker colored coat, lined with red, had tufts of white fur at the ends of the sleeves and coattails that went down to her ankles. She wore white pants and red high heeled boots that also had the same white tufts of fur around her ankles. Among all of that, she was also dawned with jewelry such as a golden necklace and a red gemstone on her forehead. Unfortunately, around her wrists were energy cuffs much like the other prisoners.

Tails and Omega were both shocked at this. "Blaze?!"

Blaze couldn't help but smirk. "Of course."

Sonic couldn't help but smile, wiping away a few of his tears. "You're that princess from that other dimension, right?"

She returned the smile and nodded. "Yes, I am. And it's good to see you again, young Sonic. I assume you're the one I met at Sonic's birthday party, right?"

"That's right."

"Well it is a pleasure." She bowed.

Tails on the other hand was still shocked. "Blaze, I don't understand. How… how are you here?!"

"After spending six months imprisoned, I almost thought no one would ask. That platypus certainly didn't seem interested." Blaze mused. "Yes, it is time I share my tale."

 **EPISODE BLAZE UNLOCKED!**

 **Random notes that I purposefully left unmarked because I didn't wanna spoil that little ringer up there.  
623 prisoners, 6/23, June 23** **rd** **, the release of Sonic 1.  
Prisoner X11 refers to Agent Topaz. Her Prisoner Code being X11 is a reference to her first appearance in Sonic X Episode 11.**

 **And that's it for this chapter. Honestly, when I finished this, I was grinning like an idiot because I was waiting so long to introduce Blaze to this story. Tek, I know you've been waiting a very long moment for this too and I've teased you for over a year now but she's finally here. Blaze is finally in this story and I cannot wait to tell her story next chapter well after some research on Sonic Rush because I admittedly know very little about the Sol Dimension. But Blaze officially rounds out the roster for Trials of War. EVERYONE IS HERE and I think that'll settle for now. I do have a few more cameos planned but they're more extras and the only other major role I have in mind is Shade, Ix and the Nocturnus Clan, but my idea for them is admittedly a little convoluted so I'm not entirely sure. But yeah, assume that Blaze is pretty much the last character introduced to the story.  
With Blaze hype out of the way, this chapter admittedly ended up much shorter and a lot different than I initially concepted. Originally, it was gonna be guns ablazin' fight through the Death Egg but I guess I wanted to roll a different direction when writing and go very introspective on the characters here. You'll be getting a lot more action with the coming chapters, I promise. But I honestly really liked how this turned out and I hope you guys did too. Sorry it took so long for something so short, exams mostly got in the way.  
Oh, another thing. Would you guys be interested in a Trials of War Discord server? I've seen some friends across the site doing similar with their own stories so I guess I'm wondering if any of you guys would be interested in that. Lemme know in your reviews and if enough are, I'll start somethin' up.  
With that said, it's time for review replies.**

 **TGN:  
Honestly, I knew you were gonna hate it, and I am so sorry, man. Especially with this chapter and well, honestly what I'm gonna be doing to Tails for the next few chapters. But I promise that there is a method to my madness and I think you're gonna love what I do with him in the end. But yeah, you're gonna hate Tails before I get you to love him again. But I'm doing this because I want him to have an arc that's worth it in the end even if it means you gotta get through his bull. Stick with me though, because I promise it'll all be worth it.  
But lmfao. I feel that procrastination since well, look at this chapter.  
And thanks so much for the birthday wish.**

 **Guest 1:  
Thank you!**

 **Alexandria Prime:  
Well, now you know who the prisoner is! **

**Guest 2:  
Unfortunately, things are gonna get worse for Tails before they get better.**

 **KelWelPower:  
Looks like you're right about this whole ordeal causing problems. Too bad it's gonna get worse.  
Topaz got captured during the raid on GUN HQ and has been on the Death Egg since. Joseph too if anybody cares about him. Lol.  
Were you right about my mysterious prisoner?  
Thanks for the birthday wish!**

 **Animation Adventures:  
More transition here. Not planned, but eh. We'll be getting right back in on the action next time thankfully.  
Chris definitely won't be making an appearance in this story. At least, probably not. Cosmo… I wouldn't know where to start with her, so don't expect her either.  
Interesting that you think the Ruby is sentient.  
Episode Shadow and the Reunion are still far away, but with each chapter we get closer and closer.**

 **Guest 3:  
Oh yeah, I forgot that was a Shuffle reference. As for it's canonicity? Uh… yes… it is canon until otherwise stated.**

 **Infinite's Ruby:  
The connection between Classic Sonic and Tails is super important and I wanna make sure to get a full arc out of it. Attachment is a problem, but we'll be working that out in a bit.  
Everyone on this sentience bit. Interesting.  
Thank you so much!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw:  
I'm absolutely flattered that you and so many others think this should've been the script for the game, thank you.  
As for Tails and Classic Sonic. I'm working hard on them and want them to be the best they can be. Even if that means Tails has gotta be the worst for a little bit. It's super important and is gonna have a huge payoff.  
Thanks again!**

 **Guest 4:  
The Tornado has had tweaks over the years to improve on it. It is space worthy in my story.**

 **Guest 5:  
The power of friendship. Okay, yeah… this will be explained later.**

 **Guest 6:  
They're exhausted for one and this is a new and far more advanced model than before.**

 **TheLostEternity:  
Thanks so much for the love and support and I'm glad to have inspired you, man.**

 **Alright y'all, it's 1AM and I got a class to head to in the morning so I'm out and off to bed and will see you all next time with what I'm sure will be a longer chapter for real.**


	22. Chapter 21: Episode Blaze

**You know what guys, I was just kidding about Episode Blaze. Who wants to read a chapter talking about a Purple Cat? I do. Which is why I've decided to make this chapter Episode Big. Now you'll find out all the jaw dropping adventures of fishing in a forest while a casino is built? Won't it be fun. Get ready for 50,000 words of Big the Cat goodness and- okay, lmao. I can't.  
Welcome to the newest chapter of Trials of War and ignore my dumb jokes. We're gonna figure out what the deal with Blaze is. Unlike pretty much the rest of this story, I don't have a lot of knowledge on the Sol Dimension so you guys are gonna have to bear with me when it comes to whatever I get wrong. Sure, I could just say they're retcons for my own Sonic universe but eh.**

 **Also, I've been debating this for a while, but I think I've decided to finally change the rating of Trials of War from K+ to T. I'll admit, I feel a little restricted with K+ and while I still wanna go with as close to canon as possible at least with T I'll have more room to do more of the stuff that I want to, so yeah. Nothing is really going to change at all in how I write this story, I just wanna keep it as safe as possible.  
And there are absolutely no hard feelings if the new rating turns some of you off to this story.**

 **Now with all of that stuff out of the way, let's get into Blaze's story.**

 **Trials of War: A Sonic Forces Rewrite  
Chapter 21-  
Episode Blaze**

There were many strange things in Sonic's world. Animals that walked and talked like men, stones capable of turning dreams into reality, mechanical structures unlike the world had ever seen and heroes who protected them all. If only things like time travelling hedgehogs and world domination achieved by a portly man with a cartoonishly large moustache were the strangest things they had encountered. But unfortunately, they had an entire multiverse to deal with as well.

Across the cosmos lie all sorts alternate universes and timelines that had some things which were very similar like that of a Sonic who wore a neckerchief and brandished himself with sports tape but lived without the Chaos Emeralds; and others that were vastly different such as the Sol Dimension, in which their best defender was not the world's fastest hedgehog but instead a pyrokinetic princess who swore to protect the Sol Emeralds with her life.

The Sol Dimension, as it stood didn't really have continents like that of Mobius, but instead smaller islands scattered about that Blaze would travel to in the pursuit of peace or the protection of the Sol Emeralds. Doctor Eggman Nega of course stood as an obstacle in her path, often demanding the Sol Emeralds or some other powerful weapon of mass destruction, but Blaze would always be there to stop him dead in his tracks.

As it stood, on one of those islands was the area known as Plant Kingdom, a vast jungle farther than the eyes could see, filled to the brim with trees of all shapes and sizes, massive mushrooms rose from the ground and vines hung from up above. Plant Kingdom was a truly remarkable place, and a testament to the true beauty of the Sol Dimension.

Currently, two friends were walking through the jungle, catching up with one another after having been apart for so long.

"You best believe Eggman Nega, the no good mongrel is walkin' up to me and my crew askin' if we know where them bloody Sol Emeralds are as if we're some sort of fancy pants buggards. And while the Captain is scared out of his wits, never having the good 'ol dance with one of his lot, I looked 'im right in the eye without so much as a scuffle and told 'im we ain't see no bloody emeralds and after I threatened to sock him right in the mouth, he ran off with his tail between his legs, he did." Marine exclaimed, animatedly moving her hands around as she recalled her tail fighting against the mad doctor.

Blaze couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Sounds like you had quite the time with him. I will say though, why did he think that you and your crew had the Emeralds?"

"Haven't the foggiest." Marine shrugged. "Did he figure that you gave me a few of 'em to hide after the last time you put on that fancy light show you put on and gave him a throttlin' like he wouldn't imagine."

"Perhaps." Blaze put a hand to her chin in thought. "If he is going after the Emearlds again, then I am sure that my work will be cut out for me in the coming times."

"Defo." She nodded back.

Blaze frowned at this, to which the child noticed and quickly put an arm around her shoulder. "But you got nothin' to worry about when it comes to that dag, Blaze. A tiny spark and he's done for, as the norm with you."

Blaze smiled. "You are right. I should not bother myself with worries of the doctor, when he's no match for me."

"That's the spirit, mate!" She grinned, jostling up Blaze a little bit to which the cat laughed.

The two continued to walk and talk, recalling their own tales over the months they had spent apart.

"How are things going with the pirate crew?" Blaze had asked.

Marine beamed. "It's been going mighty fine. I definitely owe ya one for getting me in with their lot and we been havin' all sorts of adventures!"

"I am very glad to hear that. I knew you would love them."

"Course, they like the family I never had! Still, I do miss goin' out on adventures with 'ya too, Blaze. We be kin too and I can't help but wonder what you be up to these days?"

Blaze shrugged. "Nothing too different from when you were my partner on the battlefield, still traveling the world and dealing with Eggman Nega and the Emeralds as well as continuing to spread peace across the world. A princess' work is never done as you know."

"Do I ever? I don't miss the sleepless nights talkin' that political riffraff with those stuffy island leaders that you would do."

Blaze chuckled. "You did. Which is why I am sure you much prefer the adventuring of the Pirate Crew."

"Yeah, but I miss you too!" Marine insisted. "You and I should go out on one more adventure. Have some fun, just the two of us like old times!"

"We should definitely do something. Perhaps next time Eggman Nega appears, I will request your aid."

"Cap'n would not mind you sprinin' me from our lot if it meant he didn't have to deal with that Eggman Nega, I think he be scared of the old one."

"A mighty captain of the seven seas afraid of some old man?" Blaze shook her head. "Why, I guess some things have to be left to the professionals."

Both of them laughed at this.

With that, the two continued to chat, telling each other of the adventures they had had in each other's absence. Several months ago, Blaze had decided to entrust Marine's care under an old friend of her's a pirate captain who had his own crew and travelled the world just as she had. Marine would have all the adventure she wanted and not have to deal with all of Blaze's duties as a princess as she often had. They both missed one another but found that this arrangement would be both of their best interests and they would often catch up whether it came to life threatening danger at the hands of Eggman Nega or some other threat to their world or some other threat to their way of life.

In time, Marine had gotten invested in one of her many tales of the seas, telling of the bravery of her crew when they found one of the many treasures of the Sol Dimension.

"And then these skeletons rose from their graves, brandishing blades that-"

But she was cut off by a sound that neither of them heard before, a glitch distorted noise just off in the distance that rose their curiosity.

Blaze and Marine looked at one another and nodded, carefully heading off into the direction of the sound.

 **~Trials of War~**

Infinite groaned as he rose to his feet. He brought his hand to his head, clutching it pain.

It was supposed to be a simple test, activating his powers to see how well he could handle them only for him to not end up on the other side of the room like he had hoped but to end up in some random jungle was strange.

Shadow had told him to be careful, to not overclock the Ruby's power but had he listened…?

He did have more experience in teleporting he supposed, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

It was then that he took his hand off his head and began to take in his surroundings, he was in some sort of lush jungle with trees that went higher than even his eyes could see. Light gently cascaded down onto him between the leaves and amongst all of it, he spotted that there were mushrooms all around him.

His first thought made him think that perhaps he was in Mushroom Hill Zone because of the mushrooms, but no… he wasn't on Angel Island.

He communicated with his mask and threw up a GPS on the glass eye only for it to show static.

That was just great, where exactly was he…?

 **~Trials of War~**

Blaze and Marine found themselves staring out from the bushes and watched as the strange masked jackal wandered about, looking confused as to his surroundings.

Blaze frowned at the sight of the jackal before her. Being in touch with her own powers and that of the Sol Emeralds, she could sense the power of the Phantom Ruby. It was a raw, vile sort of power that came off in an irregular pattern. She looked to Marine, wondering if she could feel it but knowing that she was not Sol Tied **[1]** she doubted it.

She tapped Marine on the shoulder and whispered into her ear.

"Go and get your pirate crew. There could be trouble."

"But I want to stay and help."

"You can do that with the others, please… Marine. I think he might be dangerous."

Marine looked at her with pleading eyes only for Blaze to return with a serious look of her own.

Marine sighed. "Just be careful. And don't do anything I would do, mate."

Blaze nodded and gave her a smile as Marine ran off.

Slowly, Blaze got to her feet and walked into the clearing, immediately getting Infinite's attention.

Blaze didn't attack, just yet instead choosing to be civil first. "Greetings, stranger. Welcome to Plant Kingdom. I am Blaze the Cat: Reigning monarch and guardian of the Sol Emeralds."

Infinite glared at her. "Oh yes I know you… The Doctor's Data has you listed as one of the many foes I may encounter. A high level threat."

Without even batting an eye, she pointed a palm towards Infinite and allowed fire to ignite around it, but didn't let it surge towards him yet.

"You say that you are working with the Doctor?" Blaze asked "I take it that Eggman Nega sent you to defeat me or steal the Sol Emeralds?"

Infinite laughed and shook his head. "That is where you would be wrong. I come from Mobius Prime **[2]** and my master is Emperor Eggman. I didn't mean to enter this world, but I suppose unforeseen side effects can happen when testing the ultimate power."

Blaze was slightly taken aback, her hand lowering and flame dwindling. "You're from Sonic's dimension then?"

" _Eggman's Empire._ But yes, I am. And your little friend Sonic will be eliminated in just a few short days. But seeing as I have no quarry with your dimension that is none of your concern."

Blaze found her stance again, this time both fists alight with her burning fire. "If you plan to hurt my friends then that is very much my concern."

Infinite simply shook his head as the sound of distortion rang out and the ruby shone brightly on his chest.

Blaze had to shut her eyes tightly to avoid being blinded only to open them again and watch as Infinite tripped over his own feet and back into the dirt.

"What?!" He roared.

Blaze looked around awkwardly, the flames in her hands dispersing. "Well… this is awkward."

"Foolish gem…" Infinite grumbled, looking down at the Ruby. "You will do my bidding!"

Blaze looked around at this and shrugged, approaching Infinite. "Well, I don't know what exactly is going on, but it's clear to me that you are no match for my own abilities. Give up and we can put you in a place where you'll never hurt anyone."

"NO!" Infinite shouted at her and this time the Ruby activated again, causing him to fly wildly through the air and out of the clearing.

Blaze looked surprisingly at this, but called upon her own powers and boosted out of the clearing giving him chase.

Infinite flew through the air in odd directions, screaming at the ruby and slamming fists at it. "You will obey me at once! I am your master and you have no right to be treating me this way!"

But the Ruby simply ignored him and continued to send him on a jungle joyride through Plant Kingdom.

Unfortunately, in all of his shouting streams of flame started streaking past him.

He looked in the direction they were coming from and was shocked to see a raging ball of fire, streaking along the ground.

From within, Blaze the Cat glared at him, with a particular fiery intensity that burned from within as she continued to fire balls of flame at him.

Now the ruby was less wild with Infinite's flight path and instead focused on flying to avoid the balls of fire.

Infinite took notice of this and tried to reason with the ruby. "Yes, excellent! Now work with me to eliminate the pest!"

He thrust his hands out, hoping to fire lasers at her in retaliation. But instead, the ruby shone brightly and the unearthly glow around Infinite faded causing him to fall out of the sky and land face first into the dirt.

He groaned as he got up to his hands and knees.

Blaze came skidding to a hault behind him as bits of spark and ashes dissipated around her. Where Sonic was a bit of a show off, she just had a natural flare and elegance that shone through in battle.

With that, she sauntered over to the downed jackal and put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"That is quite enough." Blaze commanded.

"Stay back!" Infinite barked as he turned back towards her and thrust a hand out in defense.

At that, the Phantom Ruby responded with a harsh glow and the sound of distortion rang out yet again.

Blaze could only gasp as the world around them warped and bended until it was completely unrecognizable. Remarkable colors of all kinds rushed past her. And just as soon as it all started, it ended as a bright flash of light enveloped the both of them.

 **~Trials of War~**

"You fought Infinite?!" Sonic exclaimed.

Blaze nodded. "Yes, he had appeared in my dimension before your war had even began, but from what I can tell it was an accident."

Tails shook his head. "I don't understand. How could Infinite have made a mistake like that?"

" **From Blaze's recounting of events, it would appear that he and the Phantom Ruby were not cooperating with one another."**

Blaze nodded at this. "Yes, that is what happened. It had seemed that he wasn't quite in control of his powers. It made the battle a little bit too easy, seeing as I hadn't had to do much of anything at all."

"That makes sense." Sonic added. "The Ruby has been shown to kind of just do whatever it wants sometimes. I remember Eggface being pretty surprised when the Ruby first teleported us to Green Hill Zone for the first time."

Tails looked at him confusedly to which Sonic only shrugged. He didn't want to deal with Tails makeup memory game at the moment.

Tails continued now. "But if Infinite had trouble back then then how did you end up here in prison?"

"Quite simple really." Blaze shrugged. "Whatever dispute that he and the Ruby had ended in battle."

They looked on in shock.

"At the time, I hadn't known it, but Infinite had flung me into your dimension…"

 **~Trials of War~**

When the light cleared, Blaze was surprised to find herself standing in the middle of yet another forest, but this one was much different than that of Leaf Forest.

It was hard to see what with a canopy of tree leaves that not only went higher than her own eyes could see, but completely covered the forest itself. Among those leaves, she could make out massive spider webs could be seen among the branches, trees of all sorts of different shapes and sizes could be seen. Much smaller ones were all around her as well and a light snowfall fell. She also couldn't help but take note of what appeared to be some sort of a race track down below.

"Interesting… The Phantom Ruby decided to teleport us to White Cave down in Efrika." **[3]** Infinite started.

At the mere sound of his voice, Blaze faced him fists held high and ignited with flames.

"Well… at least I am back in the correct dimension."

And that was when he took notice of her and held his own open palm out towards her. "But it seems you have brought a straggler along for the ride… You are not supposed to be here."

"It would not be the first time I have been called to this dimension without my consent and it certainly will not be the last." Blaze retorted. "But I refuse to allow you to take another step further. If you dare to threaten my friends, then you have to defeat me first."

"So be it then." Infinite growled. "Phantom Ruby, give me the power to crush our enemy so that they do not succeed in battle against both you and I. I crave the destruction that you seek and wish to unleash it on this cat."

The Phantom Ruby did seem to respond to that as the glow that had appeared around him before, appeared again and a laser began to form in his open palm.

His eyes held a fiery fury. Wild, unkempt and ready to turn the entire world to ashes unlike her own elegant passion. Even in her fights against the doctor and the evils of two different dimensions, she had never seen anything like it and yet, she showed no fear even as he uttered one haunting word.

" _ **Die."**_

With that, the fight resumed as he fired off a laser that would've ended Blaze had she not jumped into the air, above the blow sending splinters of wood flying.

Blaze twirled around in the air, before firing off two fireballs towards her foe.

Infinite took notice of this and pointed both hands at them. To his surprise, the ruby shone brightly at this and responded with his own twin fireballs that met them and caused a small explosion.

Blaze could only gasp at this as she landed in a crouch, wondering how exactly the jackal had learned to control flame.

But unfortunately for her, that moment she took to ponder was quickly interrupted as Infinite appeared behind her in a flash of light.

Blaze instinctively turned on her heel and delivered a flame tipped roundhouse that would've done a number on the masked one had he not simply stepped back to avoid the blow.

When her back was turned, Infinite had grabbed her by the shoulders, before the ruby on his chest began to quickly flash red. With that, he allowed himself to detonate and a massive explosion enveloped the cat to which she cried out in pain as she was flung clean off the tree that she and Infinite had been fighting on.

Infinite appeared when the smoke cleared and dusted himself off. "Far too easy."

He turned and was ready to leave only to be surprised when he heard a springing sound in the same direction she had fallen.

He ran back to where she had fallen only for a cat bathed in flame to come right at him, knocking him out of the air and tumbling to the ground.

Blaze thanked the gods above that the spider web had been there to break her fall as she landed out of her air boost. But not wasting a single moment, she immediately thrust both hands out towards Infinite, pouring as much power as she could muster into the flame but to her shock he had disappeared entirely.

In his place a hole had been left in the ground where he had once stood, confusing the cat to no end as she tried to place where the jackal had gone.

She went over to the hole to investigate only for him to come bursting out of the ground from behind her. His hands had been formed into twin lances, prepared to skewer her. But the cat discharged a burst of flame in defense that knocked him back yet again.

Infinite floated up into the air in front of her and growled in frustration.

Blaze couldn't help but allow a little bit of her cockiness get the best of her. "Did your mother not teach you that playing with fire will often lead to burns?"

Infinite took to firing lasers at her, which she easily boosted out of the way of. "When it comes to flames, I play no games. I use my own to ravage worlds and watch their inhabitants beg for mercy as it melts them away."

Still dodging, Blaze retorted that. "And I use my burning blaze as a beacon of hope for my people, my friends. Fire can be destructive, there's no denying that. But in the hands of the righteous, it can be a tool of protection, life and preservation."

At that, Blaze took to jumping towards one of the trees, using her momentum, she bounded up and over to Infinite where she delivered another flaming roundhouse to his face. Knocking him down yet again.

Blaze landed, allowing the flame to dance around her before dissipating.

She walked over to Infinite and firmly placed one of her heels onto his face.

"Failure to understand the true power is what lead to your defeat." Blaze announced.

Infinite however didn't flinch. "Then what would happen if we removed the tools that you hold so much pride in?"

Blaze tried to light her palm, ready to end him only for the Phantom Ruby on his chest to activate the ruby on his chest yet again and for both of them to disappear into a flash of light.

 **~Trials of War~**

Blaze had to stop for a moment, turning her gaze towards the ground as she recalled the next few memories were difficult.

Tails and Omega looked at her expectantly while Classic Sonic frowned.

He got up to the force field, separating them and lightly placed a hand on it. "Y-you don't have to continue if you don't want to…"

Blaze looked up at the small hog, grateful for his concern but shook her head. "No, it is fine."

 **~Trials of War~**

When the light cleared, Blaze was shocked to find herself atop a weathered stone pillar, surrounded by nothing but roaring waters for miles upon miles on end. Rain poured down in droves, not only clouding their visibility but drenching the two of them and making the clouds around them the only thing they could see for miles upon miles on end.

The flame in Blaze's hands fizzled out almost immediately, leaving the cat nearly defenseless as she tried to conjure up a replacement but to no avail.

Infinite chuckled as he teleported out from underneath her so that he was floating above her yet again.

"Welcome to Soumerica's Tempest Waterway. **[4]** Much like its sister city, The Aquatic Capital, this place is almost completely submerged in water making it uninhabitable for most but an excellent home for Aquatic Mobians looking for a better life amongst their own community. Unfortunately, unlike its luxurious shining counterpart, it rains twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three-hundred and sixty-five days of the year."

Blaze's eyes widened in shock at this.

"And for a pyrokinetic such as yourself, it will prove fatal."

Blaze didn't back down though. "And is this is supposed to scare me?"

"It is to make you understand that there is no hope. Now I leave you with an option, submit to me, the doctor and the will of our empire or stand and suffer the consequences of crossing my path."

Blaze held up her fists in defiance. "If you think that making me unable to use my primary ability is going to make me succumb to the likes of you, then you are surely mistaken. I choose to stand and fight. Not only for myself but for my friends, to make sure you never hurt them."

With that she launched herself towards him, letting out a fierce battle cry.

"Then you have chosen defeat." Infinite insisted.

With that, the two faced off against one another trading blows in hand to hand combat as they fought atop the pillar.

Blaze was quick in each and every one of her moves going for jabs and kicks in quick succession that the jackal was sure not to block. It would've left him completely defenseless if not for the little force fields popping up and blocking each and every strike that she delivered. It frustrated Blaze to no end especially as she continued to be weighed down by the water continuing to soak her, but she pressed on.

Infinite on the other hand was slower but had far more powerful attacks, each of which Blaze was able to counter despite taking damage. Fortunately for him, where he didn't care to block her attacks, the Phantom Ruby was working with him, careful to block each and every one of her blows. He couldn't be more grateful for it to agree with him when it came to defeating Blaze.

After a particularly heavy collision with one another, both knocked away from each other, leaving them in a standoff.

Slowly but surely, Blaze was getting worn down. Her fur heavy and soaked, growing more and more tired over the course of time. She had been severely handicapped with this change in location. Infinite glared her down though, ready and waiting for her.

She knew what she had to do.

Blaze ran towards Infinite to which the jackal put his fists up, ready to fight her off.

But Blaze just breezed on past him, to which his eyes couldn't help but widen in shock.

Blaze then got to the edge of the pillar, taking a deep breath before she sprung off of it and dove into the rushing waters below. She hoped beyond all chance that she would be lost in the current where Infinite would never find her and survive the current so that she could figure out what to do next.

Infinite whirled around and saw this, completely shocked at the sight. Despite her showing weakness in trying to flee, he had to admit that he had respect in a clever move like that.

Still, he was not someone that could be tricked.

Blaze braced herself for the harsh impact that would come. Praying to the Sol Emeralds that they would protect her as she made her descent, pelted by the onslaught of rain and the whipping winds before her.

She screwed her eyes shut and hoped for the best.

Only for them to snap open when she felt a sharp clawed hand grasp around her neck.

She tried to struggle, but Infinite held tight, flying her across the way before dunking her face into the rushing water.

Her lungs burned, she struggled to breathe and flailed desperately in his arms as she tried to get away from him but to absolutely no avail.

And then, she heard the sound again, the light flashed and they were no longer in Tempest Waterway.

 **~Trials of War~**

All were silent as Blaze recounted her defeat. Unsure of what to say.

For Blaze, it was as if she were back there again, struggling to find her breath.

But in time, she was able to ground herself and continue the story.

 **~Trials of War~**

When the light cleared, Blaze flopped onto cold metal, choking and sputtering as she tried desperately to catch her breath but was far too weak to do anything.

She didn't see much of her surroundings, just that it was some sort of dimly lit laboratory lined with glass tubes that contained floating red cubes and a console in the center of the room.

Standing before them were none other than Eggman, Cubot, Orbot and Shadow the Hedgehog.

Each and every one of them gasped at her appearance while Infinite placed his left boot on her, looking triumphantly at the doctor with his arms crossed.

"Blaze!" Shadow shouted as he ran to her side. He glared at Infinite and barked. "Infinite, what is the meaning of this?! Unhand her at once!"

Infinite shook his head. "I am sorry, Shadow but that is for the master to decide."

Everyone looked up at Eggman at this who honestly looked just as surprised as everyone else. But he quickly found his composure and addressed Infinite.

"I must say, Infinite. When you disappeared during our little exercise I didn't expect you to return an hour later with one of Sonic's most trusted allies under your heel. And one from another dimension? That's definitely an incredibly remarkable development."

"Thank you, master."

He then kneeled down to Blaze. "As for you, how did you enjoy fighting my newest weapon?"

Blaze screwed her eyes shut, looking away from the doctor.

"Clearly, quite well." Eggman used. "You know I have to thank you for your assistance. While it wasn't planned, fighting you gave Infinite the perfect opportunity to test his skills against someone at Sonic's skill level before he has to fight him in a few short days. And his interdimensional counterpart? I couldn't ask for better!"

Blaze glared at him.

"And I cannot leave such a kind gesture go unnoticed, so I am giving you the once in a life time opportunity to become a general of the Eggman Empire. Join my side and we'll be able to conquer this world and shape it into a new image that will benefit all for years to come, my image. What do you say?"

"You… you h-have to be cr-cr-cracked if you think I w-would evvvvverrr join y-y-you…" Blaze sputtered, still weak from her fight with Infinite but trying to give off an air of unquestionable defiance.

Eggman shrugged. "Very well. At the moment we're running a bit behind schedule because of your little exhibition match. We're about to depart for The Lost Hex to get a certain Zeti the push to join our side… Infinite, judging by the ease in which you defeated Blaze, I trust that the Phantom Ruby is cooperating with you."

Infinite touched the ruby on his chest to which it sent a reassuring pulse through his body. He couldn't help but feel elated at this, having solved his problems.

"Yes, master. I no longer have any issues with control, we cooperate with one another."

Eggman grinned. "Good, then we will go to The Lost Hex together. Shadow, you are sitting this one out. Take Blaze to the Death Egg for her crimes against the Empire. She will be the first of many prisoners."

Shadow shook his head. "Don't ask me to do that Doctor. Allow me to go to The Lost Hex and Infinite escort her."

Eggman shook his head. "I give the orders around here, Shadow. I want _you_ to take your friend to prison. It'll be an excellent first test of your loyalty."

Shadow glared at the Doctor to which he didn't even bat an eye. After a few short moments, he sighed.

"Very well."

With that, Shadow looked to Blaze and hefted him up on her shoulder before activating Chaos Control and teleporting to the newly constructed Death Egg.

 **~Trials of War~**

"Shadow didn't do that much talking when he took me here outside of a brief apology. I did not understand why he had chosen to work with the Doctor and he didn't seem very forth coming when it came to answers about his current allegiance." Blaze explained. "But ever since, I have been spending the past seven months here, waiting patiently for rescuers and now here you are…"

"What about Sonic?" Tails asked. "The other one, that is…?"

Blaze shook her head. "He was here. He fought that Havoc fellow before leaving and promising his return. Truthfully, I didn't get a very good view of what had happened due to the view from my own cage."

"So he really was here…" Tails mused. "Then that obviously means we're on the right track, if we hurry then maybe we can find him somewhere out there!"

"Yeah, but we're freeing these prisoners first." Sonic insisted. "I promised I would come back right? And I'm here. A little younger than I'm supposed to be, but hey! It's what we're gonna do."

" **The chances of success for such a mission are low."** Omega stated.

"Maybe so, but I always beat the odds." Sonic smirked.

Tails shook his head. "Guys… we can't. Sonic is the number one priority. We can come back for them later, with him."

"And leave all these people to rot until then? No way, buddy."

"I agree with the young one." Blaze nodded. "Tails, I never took you to be the selfish type, yet here you are. You are really going to leave all these people, including me, your friend to stay here forever?"

"Tha-that's not…"

"But it is." Blaze retorted, looking him dead in the eyes.

"It would just be a little while longer…" Tails insisted. "We wouldn't even know how to get you guys out all by ourselves."

At that, an older gruff sounding voice weighed in. "Then perhaps I could be of assistance?"

All three looked confusedly to see that sitting in the cell next to her was none other than Professor Pickle.

"Professor?" Tails gaped.

Professor Pickle smiled. "But of course, old chap. Who else would it be?"

"When did you get imprisoned on the Death Egg?"

The Professor shook his head. "Quite some weeks ago after Sonic made his grand return on the 'ol telly. Our golden boy made quite the impression on the world, gave people the hope they deserved. Unfortunately when Shadow came to town I tried to spread some of that hope and that lead to the imprisonment of both myself and some of the students and faculty of Spagonia University."

"Wow, glad to see that the older me running around has brought some hope to even a geezer like you."

Tails' eyes widened at that. "Sonic! Please show some respect! This man is one of the world's most renowned researchers on Gaia and other supernatural energies."

"I am also a friend." Professor Pickle chimed in. "Formalities and titles are for business but here we are among friends who have seen pain thanks to the Eggman Empire."

Tails looked down at this.

" **It is an honor to meet you, Professor."** Omega tilted the top half of his body down in a bow.

Sonic shrugged. "Alright. My bad, Prof."

Blaze leaned against her cell and couldn't help but smile. "Let me just say, it is always nice to hear your voice, Professor."

"Likewise, 'ol girl. And might I say that your tale at the hands of that Infinite rapscallion is never easy to hear. You should know that you are far stronger than you realize. I'm sure you'll give him the proper wallop he deserves soon."

She smiled. "Thank you, Professor. But please, tell them your plan."

"Ah, yes! Yes! Of course! The plan! The plan I was to give to Sonic when he returned to free us from the Death Prison! The Professor's Escape Plan!"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Well it's quite simple really." Professor Pickle explained. "Whenever they bring new prisoners into the Death Egg, they always do so through the use of a control panel at the main entrance to the prison. If someone with an intellect say higher than the likes of my own but on par with that of Doctor Eggman, then it could easily be cracked and all the prisoners would be able to be set free."

At that everyone turned to look at Tails.

"I- wha- me!?"

"Well, of course? Who else but one with a fine mine such as yours?"

"I can't do that!" Tails shouted. "If I let all these people out, Eggman's robots are gonna be on us before we can even say freedom!"

"Well, it's a good thing that you'll have me and Omega right by your side right?"

" **Affirmative."**

Professor Pickle smiled. "Not only him, but several hundreds. Many of which are Mobians even with the most rudimentary abilities in order to help you."

"Like me." Blaze added. "A lot of lovely people around here not only want nothing more than to see their home again but to deliver some sort of blow to the Empire. They may not have the adventuring experiences, but you more than anyone know what it's like to turn even the most mundane abilities into the greatest weapons against Eggman."

"And with a lot of the Badniks being turned to scrap metal, what would stop some of the GUN soldiers and other combatants without abilities to call their own from picking them up and using them as weapons?"

"You'd have a pretty decent chance to get those people to the hangar." Blaze explained.

Sonic smirked. "Now how's that for impossible?"

" **My sensors indicate that the likelihood of success has greatly increased with this in mind."**

Tails looked away from them, biting his lip.

Sonic furrowed his brow at him. _"Tails-"_

But Professor Pickle was quick to cut in. "Tails, my young friend. I know you are scared. It has been a long and trying time for the world and knowing what happened to Sonic, I can only imagine what you are going through. But ask yourself this, not only is this what Sonic would want of you, but is leaving all of us behind what _you_ believe in…?"

With that, everyone turned their attention back to Tails to which the fox looked down at the floor, unsure of what to do. Sonic above all else was top priority. There was nothing in the world that he wanted more at this point and if he didn't reach that goal… then he didn't know what he'd do. But despite everything, Professor Pickle was right. All these people had been looking for a hero and with both Sonic and Tails onboard the Death Egg, there was no one else that could possibly fill that role. It was something that he had been doing since he was a mere child. And yet… he didn't know what to do.

But when he looked into the faces of all these people, especially Blaze and the Professor. He sighed. He knew what he had to do.

"Alright. I'll do it." Tails sighed.

The four of them cheered.

"But if things get way too heated for us, then I'm bailing and taking Sonic here with me, got it?"

No one had any words for that, Sonic was ready to say a few words to him only for Omega to put his hand on his shoulder and lightly shake his head.

Sonic grumbled but agreed to remain silent for the time being.

With that, Tails went over to the console and in a matter of seconds, hacked into the system.

In mere moments, hundreds of force fields faded away all over the prison and alarms began to blare.

 **[1] Sol Tied is basically being chaos sensitive but y'know, with Sol. Yeah.  
[2] I've never called Modern Sonic's dimension that, but let's role with it. His dimension is the center of the multiverse or the Sonic-verse if you will.  
[3] White Cave is a Sonic Riders location. Efrika is the Africa equivalent from the Archie Comics.  
[4] Tempest Waterway is a location from Sonic Riders Zero Gravity.**

 **And we are done with another chapter of Trials of War and with this chapter out of the way, I think it's a good time to celebrate with the official Trials of War Timeline. Now that Blaze has been properly introduced to the fic, it only seems right.**

 **Year 1:  
Classics  
Sonic is 12, Tails is 8, Knuckles is 13.**

 **Year 2:  
Adventure 1 & 2  
Sonic is 13, Tails is 9, Knuckles is 14.**

 **Year 3:  
Heroes-Shadow + Riders, Rush and Rivals (06 removed from timeline)  
Sonic is 14, Tails is 10, Knuckles is 15**

 **Year 4:  
Unleashed-Generations + Riders, Rush and Rivals Sequels  
Sonic is 15, Tails is 11, Knuckles is 16**

 **Year 5:  
Lost World, Trials of War Prologue  
Sonic is 16, Tails is 12, Knuckles is 17**

 **Year 6:  
Trials of War  
Sonic is 17, Tails is 12, Knuckles 18**

 **I've talked about moving Tails' age up a little bit so that he's a little closer in age to Sonic while still being reasonably younger and a kid. Since Sonic is 15 when Tails is 8 in canon, you can see that I closed that gap by 3 years.  
Every other canon character's age is scaled to Sonic's unless stated otherwise (like Tails) so since Rouge the Bat is 18 in canon where Sonic is 15, she is 20 in Trials of War. Amy who is 12 in canon, is now 14. Vector is 22 in ToW. Etc. Just take their canon ages and add two.**

 **But with all of that said, that's the end of the chapter and I gotta say, I'm pretty pleased with the result. Blaze's story is one I've wanted to tell for a long time and I hope I did her, the Sol Dimension and Marine justice. I'll admit that with Marine, I took some liberties with her and upped a lot of her lingo and all with the two year gap and I hope fans of the character are okay with that. And as for Riders locations? Well, since I didn't have any planned in the story, I decided why not put some here in this little prequel episode?**

 **But yeah, that's all for this one so with that said, let's get into the review replies.**

 **TGN:  
It won't be an official chapter, but yes. There will be an Act 2 taking place in a much later part of the story amongst a rather chaotic event that I have been excited to get to but am nowhere near yet.  
I'm glad you liked the more introspective take with this one.  
I am so sorry about Tails, but I do have something big. I trust that you'll stay with me until that time comes.  
And I want to treat Tails as best as II can. Unfortunately, with the plot I have in mind for him, I gotta take him through the rollercoaster that is grief, depression and dependency issues. I wanna get more into it, but now's not the time. But Tails is super important to this story and I want to treat him well, I'm glad you think I treat him better than SEGA does.  
As for Blaze she's been planned to be revealed here since this story was conceived and I'm glad she's finally here. I hope you enjoyed this chapter with her and what I have in store for her moving forward.  
Thanks so much for the continued support.**

 **Alexandria Prime:  
She's finally here!  
And now… you have your answers.**

 **The Sensational SpiderDom321:  
Heh, I see you're feelin' a bit Looney, man. Haha.  
And there's no worries, man. We talked about it and I don't mind the wait. I was actually pretty surprised that you reviewed as soon as you did. But as always, appreciate it.  
Blaze is awesome and I love her a lot too. I'm so glad to finally get her place in ToW. I hope I do her justice.  
Well, I hope I settled your Marine hopes and dreams and did her well. As for Gemerl? At the moment, no. I don't have any plans for him simply because I'm not too familiar with the character. But who knows? Maybe that could change in the future.  
Thanks so much, I appreciate all the support, man. And I'm glad you're doing better as well.**

 **Guest:  
Thank you!**

 **Animation Adventures:  
Nope. Blaze hasn't even been so much as mentioned in this story before this chapter. So she's finally making her grand debut. Luckily, not too long.  
One cameo, I have planned to come soon is actually from a more recent piece of Sonic related media I'm looking forward to.  
Can't wait to storm the Death Egg next time.**

 **TheLostEternity:  
No problem. **_**Thank you,**_ **for the continued support. Hope I pleased with Episode Blaze and I'm glad you're enjoying the classic trio. I agree that Tails is more than a sidekick and in time, he'll realize that too just gotta get through the hard stuff first.  
You're welcome for the reply, and I look forward to more of your comments and reviews as the story moved forward.  
Happy belated birthday, man!  
As for your question regarding how many chapters there will be, at the moment 52. I still got a long way to go.**

 **And that'll do everyone. As always, thank you to each and every one of you who continue to read, review, follow and favorite this story. Remember to R &R and I'll see you all next time for "Liberty or Death! …Egg."**


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